RELEVANT - Issue 89 - September/October 2017 by RELEVANT Media Group

Father John Misty Provocateur or prophet? The acclaimed artist opens up about his faith and the real message behind his new album.

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Why does Christianity send people to Hell?

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QuitChristianity.com

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#QuitChristianity

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J E R E M Y R I D D L E â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S F I R S T S O L O A L B U M W I T H BETHEL MUSIC

CONTENTS

T H E M A G A Z I N E O N FA I T H , C U LT U R E & INTENTIONAL LIVING

SEPT-OCT 2017 // ISSUE 89

September-October 2017, Issue 89 You may get misty-eyed.

Abramson, Ann Swindell, Taylor Jackson, Holly Ellis Director of Business Development | AME LYNN FUHLBRUCK Account Manager | HEATHER VOORHEES

Features

Account Manager | KAYLEE SANFORD Account Manager | CORRY WINGATE Circulation and Traffic Manager | CAROLINE COLE

Father John Misty p . 72

Creative Director | JOHN DAVID HARRIS Audio and Video Director | NATHAN GRUBBS

The intriguing artist candidly talks about his music, faith and why so many Christians have him all wrong.

Designer | ALEXA MENDEZ Contributing Designer | LAUREN HARVILL Audio Producer | CHANDLER STRANG Contributing Photographers: Emma Elizabeth Tillman, Catie Laffoon, Stan Stills photography, Jake Michaels, Piper Ferguson, Nutopia

4 6 // ERIN LOECHNER

Operations Manager | JESS COLLINS

Author and HGTV personality Erin Loechner describes what “slowing down” looks like.

5 0 // L AN Y HAS ARRIVED With their long-awaited debut, the indiepop outfit puts it all on the line.

50 6 8 // INSIDE THE

Finance Director | MICHAEL BOWLES Operations Support Coordinator | MIKAYLAH ROUCHARD Facilities Manager | NOAH DARMATA ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: www.RELEVANTmagazine.com/advertise

SANCTUARY MOVEMENT

A look at the churches defying the law to protect undocumented immigrants.

5 2 // THE 2017 T V PRE VIE W This fall’s new shows say a lot about the state of peak TV—and our cultural values.

8 2 // THE WAITING GAME Does it seem like God is withholding your dreams? It may just be a matter of timing.

5 6 // TERRY CRE WS GET S RE AL The TV funnyman opens up about the double life that almost cost him everything.

8 4 // ANDY MINEO The rapper opens up about emotional health and how he found his voice again.

6 2 // THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO CHRIS TIAN MINGLING

8 6 // A HIS TORY OF VIOLENCE

Presenting the Church’s most authoritative collection of dating tips. Thank us later.

What does it mean for the message of Jesus when the God of the O.T. is so angry?

RELEVANT MEDIA GROUP 900 N. Orange Ave. Winter Park, FL 32789 RELEVANTmediagroup.com TO SUBSCRIBE RELEVANTmagazine.com/subscribe Rates: 1 year (6 issues) U.S. $26.99, Canada $36.99, International $45.99 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES WEB: RELEVANTmagazine.com/subservices Phone: 866-402-4746 EMAIL: support@relevantmagazine.com BULK DISCOUNTS: 866-402-4746 RETAIL DISTRIBUTION Michael Vitetta, Curtis Circulation Company mvitetta@curtiscirc.com

0 8 // FIRS T WORD

9 0 // RELE VANT SELECT S The latest books, music and movies you should know about. Trust us, these are ones you don’t

1 6 // CURRENT

want to miss.

Is the world getting better?; Derek Carr gives his money away; Meet the new ‘Doctor Who’; Millennial phone addiction; Church

9 6 // L AS T WORD

giving vs. government cuts; Sunday Morning:

Jen Hatmaker on why God’s plan is better than

The Game; Bono on worship and more.

the judgmental faith she grew up with.

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Issue #89 September/October 2017 (ISSN: 1543-317X). RELEVANT is published 6 times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November for $26.99 per year by RELEVANT Media Group, Inc., 900 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789. Periodicals postage paid at Orlando, FL, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RELEVANT Magazine, P.O. Box 531147, Orlando, FL 32853.

2017

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FIRST WORD a letter from the publisher

That Day Father John Misty Made Fun of Us on Twitter

understanding rather than throw grenades at each other from afar. Wait, he follows us. Which means I can message him.

IS ABSOLUTELY DRIPPING WITH

So at 1 a.m., I wrote him back.

FAITH CONTENT.

I told him we saw the tweets and

GRANTED, MUCH

got the joke. I also told him how much I appreciated his new album, especially the hard parts. The next day, he wrote back. And over the week we engaged in a candid (and kind) back-and-forth. It

OF IT IS A CRITIQUE, BUT AS A WORK OF ART, IT’S

turned out we had a lot in common,

SIGNIFICANT,

growing up in the Church and going

EVEN IF

to Christian schools and colleges.

SOME PARTS

I told him how after we heard the

‘PURE COMEDY’

new album, our team reached out to

ARE HARD TO

was the end of a fairly normal work day

his label about doing an interview,

LISTEN TO.

when one of our editors popped in my

only to be rejected (some press

office. “Did you see what Father John

handlers are scared of the faith

Misty’s been saying about us on Twitter?”

angle, which I get).

Noooo, what?

“Just read it. I don’t think he’s too happy with us.” Later that night I pulled up his timeline, and sure enough,

He immediately replied, “I’d love to do an interview.” I typically don’t do the stories

all day he had been proclaiming bitingly sarcastic love for

for our magazine, but a few weeks

his “new favorite website.”

later I flew to L.A. and spent the day

If you follow him, you know he’s fairly famous for

at his home and studio. He wanted

bizarre and usually hilarious social media rants, taking on

to talk almost entirely about God

celebrities, society and even Twitter itself. His feed is full of

(not the usual interview), and the

offbeat jokes that I’m pretty sure only he gets.

conversation lasted for hours. I

I glanced up to see how many hundreds of thousands of followers were being treated to this lovely flood of RELEVANT mockery when I noticed he only followed one account. Intrigued, I clicked.

walked away knowing the man and his music in a new way. It was definitely the strangest origin for a cover story in

It was @RELEVANT. Of course.

RELEVANT’s history, but what you’ll

That day, he had released a new music video that featured

read on page 72 shows a lot of good

some on-the-nose religious imagery (I mean, Macaulay

can come from engaging online

Culkin was being crucified), so we posted it on our site. Our

instead of getting defensive.

writer just happened to add a little pithy commentary. Apparently, he saw the post and didn’t quite appreciate

Probably something we should try in other parts of life, too.

said commentary. Hence the daylong fun at our expense. We’ve actually been fans of Father John Misty for years. His albums always seem to have some Arcade Fire-esque faith undertones, but his new album, Pure Comedy, is absolutely dripping with faith content. Granted, much of it is a critique, but as a work of art, it’s significant, even if some parts are hard to listen to. As a Christian, I’ve always felt like we need to

C A MER ON S T R A NG

engage those who differ from us, and build bridges of

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Publisher & CEO

2017

Aquis maio. Itate ne nessimpor aut excest, expera delique es que doluptius exped que eos et fugitaquatet alit alicil maximodi tesequi ipisime reribus dolorum quo et aut

BE READY. SWBTS.EDU/BEREADY 09

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ACCURATE. READABLE. SHAREABLE. Learn more at CSBible.com 011

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2017

Tamala Kelly ’09, M.Div. ’14 Pastor and Founder of Empower 2 Purpose

Empowering to Find Purpose

“How did you get here?” A seemingly simple question, but one that often leads to a deeper story. For Azusa Pacific Seminary graduate Tamala Kelly, “here” involves co-pastoring a church with her husband, running a women’s ministry, and being a mother of four. It also involves asking that same question of others—people who are hurting, broken, lost, or otherwise in need of what only Jesus can provide—and helping them discover their purpose. Watch Tamala’s story:

apu.edu/stories/tamala-kelly

Learn how Azusa Pacific can help you transform the world with Christ through one of five degree programs in Azusa, Los Angeles, or San Diego. apu.edu/seminary Doctor of Ministry Master of Divinity Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies Master of Arts (Theological Studies) Master of Arts in Transformational Urban Leadership 015

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CURRENT A B I M O N T H LY L O O K A T F A I T H , L I F E A N D C U LT U R E

And Now, Some Good News Numbers show there are ever-increasing reasons to be optimistic about the future.

IT’S EASY TO LOOK at the daily headlines and feel anxious

humanitarian organizations, as well as governments, have

about the state of the world. But in the midst of negative

never shown more positive results than what we’re seeing

news about war, instability, politics, the environment and

today. Here are some highlights:

injustice—all of which are serious, no doubt—there are WORLD PEACE

still reasons to be hopeful about the future. Data shows the state of the world is actually improving.

Yes, there are terrible conflicts happening,

Recent studies show that continued efforts to eliminate

but violence is mostly isolated to certain

poverty, fight global injustice and spread the gospel are

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regions affected by war or instability.

actually having a major effect. And though there are

And globally, violence is at its lowest level in modern

big challenges ahead, ongoing efforts by religious and

history. According to Harvard researcher Steven Pinker,

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TODAY, 17,000 FEWER CHILDREN DIE EACH DAY THAN IN 1990. wrongfully convicted inmates who have been exonerated recently hit an all-time high. The numbers are proof that reform efforts and activism that seek to help those suffering from injustice in the U.S. are working. CLEAN WATER

Today, more than 90 percent of the global population has access to clean water. The work of organizations like charity: water, World Vision and water.org show the far-reaching impact clean water has on global communities. But in order for them to reach their goal of ending the water crisis in our lifetime, more must be done. Currently, 525,000 children die each year from diarrhea caused by drinking dirty water. Continued funding to build wells and improve sanitation infrastructure can dramatically save lives. statistically you have never been less likely to be the victim of violence in most parts of the world—a

BIBLE ACCESS

fact that reminds us why it remains so critical to

Thanks to the efforts of

help regions currently in conflict.

organizations like Wycliffe, the Bible has been translated into

DISEASES ERADICATED

3,200 different languages—an

Thanks to modern technology and

all-time high. In the late 1950s, the global

billions of dollars in humanitarian

literacy rate was under 70 percent. Today, it’s

investments, the eradication of

86 percent—also an all-time high—meaning

infectious diseases could become a reality in our

more people than ever can read Scripture. The

lifetimes. In fact, the use of life-saving vaccines has

YouVersion Bible app, which is equipped with

never been more widespread globally. In 2015, 86

more than 1,500 versions in more than 1,000

percent of infants worldwide received vaccines,

languages, has been downloaded more than 280

protecting them against infectious diseases that

million times.

can cause serious illness and disability or be fatal. And those numbers keep growing.

INFANT MORTALITY

Between 1990 and 2013, infant ABOVE: Celebration erupts when a newly installed charity: water well strikes water.

JUSTICE REFORM

mortality fell by 49 percent. And

Recent stats show that for the first

today, 17,000 fewer children die

time since 1981, the amount of people

each day than in 1990. Many of the deaths

RIGHT:

incarcerated in the United States has

that do occur (33 percent) are caused by

A young girl receives a polio

fallen significantly. From 2009-2016, the country’s

undernutrition, meaning that to continue the

prison population dropped by more than 5 percent.

positive trend, anti-hunger initiatives remain

vaccine in Chaman, Pakistan.

Additionally, the number of prisoners executed in 2016 hit a 20-year low. Thanks to the work

critical. In positive domestic news, the number of abortions is at its lowest since 1973.

of activists around the country, the number of

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RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

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CURRENT

Mark Zuckerberg Wants Facebook to Be Like a Church Church recruiting

FACEBOOK CEO Mark

Zuckerberg recently spoke at a Facebook Communities Summit to lay out his new vision for the social networking site. Surprisingly, he used the example of church: “People who go to church are more likely to volunteer and give to charity—not just because they’re religious, but because they’re part of a community.” For him, Facebook can become a place where influencers encourage and equip others to do good (You know, like a church.). “A church doesn’t just come together. It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation,” he said. “Leaders set the culture.”

efforts are ramping up for the committed tither.

The NFL’s Richest Man Plans to Give It Away THIS SUMMER, Oakland Raiders quarterback

Derek Carr signed a contract that made him

he’s done since college: tithe. He also said he plans on using the money

the highest-paid player in NFL history. Over

to support one of his major passions:

the next five years, the 26-year-old will make

missions work in Haiti. In 2016, he visited

$125 million.

the country with the organization Love

When a reporter asked Carr what he plans to do with the new windfall, he gave an unexpected answer.

A Child and witnessed their ministry and humanitarian work firsthand. “The exciting thing for me, money-wise,

He said he wants to buy his wife

honestly is that this money is going to help a

something nice, and plans to “splurge” on

lot of people,” Carr said. “I’m very thankful

some Chick-fil-A (Go ahead and make that

to have it, that it’s in our hands because it’s

combo a large, Derek—you earned it). But

not only going to help people in this country,

Carr said his first priority is to do something

but in a lot of countries around the world.”

MISC.

SEPT-OCT

Faith-based film studio Pure

In the first months of the Trump

A 650-feet-thick ice shelf the size of

Flix announced it is producing a

administration, more Christian

Delaware called Larsen C recently

“Christian soap opera.” Sadly, they

refugees were admitted to the

broke away from Antarctica. The

went with the title Hilton Head

U.S. than Muslim refugees, a

shelf weighs more than a trillion tons

Island, not Days of Our LifeWay.

reversal of recent numbers.

and is now the world’s third largest.

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MISC.

Sorry, healthconscious millennials and the celiac disease-afflicted, Geek out about

the Vatican has

Hollywood’s

re-affirmed its

gender-

ban on gluten-

equality progress.

‘Doctor Who’ Is Breaking Another Hollywood Glass Ceiling

free communion wafers.

A recent analysis of the Shroud of Turin revealed “nanoparticles” of blood pointing to evidence of torture, furthering the theory it held the body of Christ following the crucifixion.

Jodie Whittaker is following in the steps of the ‘Ghostbusters’ crew and Star Wars’ Rey.

JAMES BOND, Mission

SEPT-OCT

culture institutions.

as a feminist, as a woman,

Impossible, Planet of the

Actress Jodie Whittaker

Apes, Bourne—they’re all

will be the 13th Doctor in the

as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to

decades-old action franchises

50-year-old sci-fi franchise

continually push themselves

that have one thing in

Doctor Who. In a statement

and challenge themselves,

common: They’ve never

to the BBC, the 35-year-

and not be boxed in by what

action adaptation

featured a woman in the

old actress explained the

you’re told you can and can’t

of Aladdin, actress

lead role. But this winter,

significance of taking over

be … This is a really exciting

one franchise is making a

such an important role,

time, and Doctor Who

huge step forward for gender

despite the critics: “It feels

represents everything that’s

diversity in legacy pop

completely overwhelming,

exciting about change.”

020

Before she landed the role of Jasmine in Disney’s live-

and singer Naomi Scott revealed she was a worship leader at her parents’ church.

2017

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Baylor University admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

05/17

CURRENT

THE HOT LIST Bimonthly Cultural Power Rankings

Poll: 14% of Christians Left Their Churches After the Election JUST HOW DIVISIVE WAS THE 2016

W H O VOT E D F O R W H O ?

Presidential election? The Washington Post designed a survey representative

WHITE EVANGELICALS

81% TRUMP

of the U.S. population and found that of about 1,000 Christians, 14 percent had left their churches in the days following EA RT H

RELIGIOUS “NONES”

68% CLINTON

the election of Donald Trump.

[Hottest]

2016 was the hottest year on record, beating 2015 (which, in turn, beat 2014). Let’s go for a four-peat.

10%

W H ICH DEN O M IN AT IO N S LO S T T H E M O S T C ON G R E GAN T S ?

EVANGELICALS

11%

CATHOLICS

18%

PROTESTANTS

TAG [Hotter]

It’s now a real, competitive sport, and that is awesome. T I DA L [Hot]

Every time people want to give up on JAY-Z’s music streaming service, he finds a way to bring them back for more.

WINNIE THE POOH [Cold]

The little guy has been censored in China. Oh, bother.

J. C R EW [Colder]

The store is reportedly in danger of bankruptcy. At least they’ll look good.

K I D RO C K

Guess How Much Time Millennials Spend on Their Phones

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.

A recent report looked at the phone habits of American millennials and found some dramatic, but not exactly surprising, findings about daily usage: Half of all millennials

spend at least three hours a day on their phone. But that’s not the craziest part—one out of every four millennials spends at least five hours a day staring at their phone. Five hours.

[Coldest]

No more celebrity politicians, please.

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2017

Become what you believe.

BECOME A SOURCE OF LIGHT.

Be transformed by faithintegrated knowledge, exceptional professors and a vibrant all-Christian community. | biola.edu/relevant

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CURRENT

MISC.

A Robot Is Coming for Your Job Here’s how to make sure

A campaign committee has been filed with the

your career is safe.

Federal Election Commission to draft Dwayne

URE, THE ARTIFICIAL

Johnson for

INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION

president. Yes,

is offering some cool

“The Rock 2020” is

advancements when it comes

one step closer to

to consumer technology—like

becoming a reality.

smartphone assistants and self-driving

What a time to be

cars—but AI and advanced automation

alive.

are also having a dramatic impact on the workforce. And no generation faces more of a threat to lose jobs to AI than millennials. A recent study from Gallup found that 37 percent of jobs held by millennials are at “high risk” of being replaced by technology—higher than the two generations ahead of them. Entry-level jobs and retail positions are already being

In Iceland, the “5 Million Star Hotel”

affected, and soon, AI could threaten

has opened,

jobs in financial services, accounting

letting guests

and other industries. However, experts

sleep outside

say there are ways to make yourself

in transparent

irreplaceable: Aggressively seek out new

bubbles so they

skills and training, and embrace leadership

Fitter, happier,

can watch the

opportunities. Robots may be good at

more productive

Northern Lights. The only awkward

crunching numbers, but they’ll never

part is having to

replace being a cool boss.

change behind a towel.

KENDRICK LAMAR IS THE BEST REVIEWED ARTIST OF THE 21ST CENTURY ALL HAIL KING K-DOT. Data from review site Metacritic—basically a Rotten

Tomatoes-style aggregator of reviews across major publications—was recently compared to determine the best-reviewed artist since the turn of the century. Kendrick Lamar—who has released four albums since 2011—took the title of the Best-Reviewed Artist, and it wasn’t close. His average score out of 100 was 94; Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds came in at No. 2 with 90, followed by Leonard Cohen at 89.7, Sufjan Stevens at 89 and Kanye West 88.7. Though Nickelback didn’t make the list, some back-of-the-napkin math shows they somehow managed a score deep into the negative.

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The creators of Game of Thrones announced that their new show will feature an alternative future where the South won the Civil War. Uh, yikes, you guys.

2017

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CURRENT

500 Years Later and Luther’s Reformation Is No Longer Just About What Divides Us Five centuries after Martin Luther, the Church is coming back together.

500 YEARS AGO THIS OCTOBER, a Catholic Monk named

Martin Luther decided to take an action that would dramatically alter the history of the Church. Angry with a friar’s decision to sell “indulgences”— essentially, a way of purchasing forgiveness from the Church—he wrote “The 95 Theses,” spelling out all of the ways the Medieval Roman

WHAT’S AN ASPECT OF THE CHURCH THAT SHOULD BE REFORMED TODAY?

Catholic Church had become corrupt, nailing it to the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church. Soon, others began to question

FATHER JAMES MARTIN JESUIT PRIEST AND AUTHOR

church teachings, much to the alarm

The Church is always in need

and anger of the Catholic leaders.

of reform. Today it is called to

The rise of Protestantism and the theological breakaway from the Catholic Church has been a bloody one, but five centuries later, the two

draw closer to Christ unafraid of challenging the systems that keep people poor, marginalized and excluded.

sides are finally building bridges. In 1994, Evangelical leaders joined with Catholic scholars to agree that

JUDAH SMITH

“the scandal of conflict between

PASTOR AND AUTHOR

Christians obscures the scandal of

Billy Graham said racism is the

the cross, thus crippling the one

biggest social problem we face in

mission of the one Christ. “ And last year, in a revolutionary move, the pope visited the Lutheran World Federation to recognize their

the world today. Together we can eradicate racism within the Church and help lead the way for a world desperately searching for answers.

“common journey of reconciliation.” He told them, “With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation

Martin Luther’s “95 Theses”

NATASHA SISTRUNK ROBINSON

helped give greater centrality to

AUTHOR AND ACTIVIST

sacred Scripture in the Church’s life.”

The American Church needs to reform her idea of reconciliation

that does not include the pursuit of biblical justice, and the redemption of broken systems that keep people marginalized and oppressed.

MISC.

SEPT-OCT

PETA is suing a photographer on

A new song has the title of most

For the first time, scientists in China

behalf of a monkey that used the

streamed song ever. Luis Fonsi

have teleported a photon particle

photographer’s camera for a selfie,

and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito”

into space by utilizing quantum

non-ironically arguing the man

and its Bieber remix have been

entanglement. We now have

violated the monkey’s copyrights.

played nearly 5 billion times.

teleportation, but still no hoverboards.

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08/17

CURRENT

MISC.

Can Churches Really Make Up the Difference? A popular refrain from religious conservatives is that the government shouldn’t care for the poor, because it’s a Church responsibility. Here’s a look at how far the Church’s giving goes:

A Christian studio called King Street Pictures is making a modern-day adaptation of John Bunyan’s classic novel The Pilgrim’s Progress, titled

THERE ARE TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT when it comes to social justice funding

in the United States. The first says the federal government should keep its starspangled fingers out of it and let churches and individuals decide how to care for society’s ills.

Heavenquest. The director said they’re going for a grittier tone than the book.

The second says Christians should take personal responsibility but also support government legislation— that as a “blessed nation,” America has the collective responsibility—to send tax dollars toward caring for the “least of these.” There are passionate arguments on both sides of the aisle, but a new study is shedding light on the magnitude of the domestic problem at hand. Bread for the World is a faithbased anti-hunger group that crunched some numbers around

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BUDGET PROPOSAL WOULD SLASH

$19.3 BILLION FROM TAXPAYER-FUNDED PROGRAMS THAT FEED THE POOR

to be saints. Pope Francis has announced a new which involves

“America First” budget proposal—

CURRENTLY

which includes dramatic cuts to taxpayer-funded services that help

mirroring Jesus’ words “Greater love has no one

the country’s poor and hungry.

than this, that he

According to their research, every single religious congregation raise an extra $714,000 a year for

people looking

path to sainthood

President Donald Trump’s proposed

in the United States would have to

Good news for

AMERICAN CHURCHES RECEIVE

lay down his life

$114.9 BILLION

for his friends.”

IN DONATIONS EACH YEAR. OF THAT, CHURCHES INVEST

$11.4 BILLION

10 years to adequately offset cuts the America First budget makes to

IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH

programs that help needy people. It’s worth noting that President Trump’s budget proposal has little

SO, TO MAKE UP FOR PROPOSED GOVERNMENT CUTS

chance to make it through Congress without significant overhaul. Nevertheless, Bread for the World’s math is an important reality check on the notion that churches could effectively take care of all the nation’s people in need.

EVERY CHURCH IN AMERICA WOULD HAVE TO INCREASE ANNUAL COMMUNITY DONATIONS BY

714,000

Fewer babies are being born in the U.S. now than ever. Why the plummeting birthrate? Many millennials are waiting to start families until

[THAT’S MORE THAN $2,000 EXTRA FROM EVERY CONGREGANT]

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028

they get settled into careers.

2017

S E AT T L E U N I V E R S I T Y S C H O O L O F T H E O LO GY A N D M I N I S T RY

We empower for a just and humane world “The School of Theology and Ministry’s unique focus on social ministry and practical theological application is a benefit to anyone who is looking to be on the front lines of pastoral care and 21st century religion.” — Justin Almeida, Master of Divinity

Graduate Degree Programs:

Doctor of Ministry Master of Divinity Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies Master of Arts in Transforming Spirituality Master of Arts in Couples & Family Therapy Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership

Learn more: seattleu.edu/stm

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09/17

CURRENT

S C R I P TA B L E T W E E T S

@CHUUCH

hi, grandma? can u come pick me up from my rap battle? it’s over. no, i lost. he saw u drop me off & did a pretty devastating rhyme about it 8 Mile meets Garden State, in which our young hero is not the rap master he thought and has to find his true path.

@JOHNPIPER

Farewell Rob Bell “Farewell, Rob Bell” is a melancholy, Manchester by the Sea-type indie flick. Perhaps it could be about two pastors overcoming their differences.

A picture is truly worth 140 characters.

@BRENDLEWAHT

Hello sir, I-*briefcase full of jellybeans falls open*

The Age of Hollywood Adapting Tweets Into Movies Is Upon Us Turns out all the next great screenwriter needs is a smartphone.

EVERY NOW AND THEN, TWITTER pulls

down if you are @Rihanna.” And Riri

off a true miracle. In April, Twitter

responded, “I’m in Pit’z.”

user @MFKAILLOU tweeted a photo

This tweet is short, even by Twitter standards, but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for with a twist even Shyamalan wouldn’t see coming.

@REALDONALDTRUMP

Despite the constant negative press covfefe What is this movie about? It’s probably just a distraction from the real cinematic agenda. But nobody knows. That’s what makes it brilliant.

Well, Ava DuVernay has agreed to

of actress Lupita Nyong’o and singer

bring the tweet to life in a movie that

@CEEJOYNER

Rihanna, saying, “Rihanna looks like

may actually be happening. It’s being

she scams rich white men and Lupita

written by Insecure mastermind Issa

is the computer smart best friend

Rae. But why stop there?

When clowns first attacked these shores nobody took it seriously. It’s just one boat, how many could there be, they said.

that helps plan the scams.” The funny

Here’s a look at some of our

observation went viral, with more

suggestions of actual tweets that

than 100,000 retweets.

should be turned into movies we’d

Eventually, Nyong’o tweeted, “I’m

SEPT-OCT

definitely see:

A dark thriller.

030

2017

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10/17

CURRENT

Most Married Americans Are Uncomfortable Being Alone With People of the Opposite Sex W

hen Vice President Mike

A quarter of those polled said one-on-

Millennials Are More Skeptical of the Bible Than Any Generation

Pence revealed that he had

one work meetings with someone of the

strict rules about meeting

opposite sex is inappropriate, but when

RECENT RESEARCH

with women privately, the

it comes to outside of the workplace,

CONDUCTED by the Barna

so-called “Billy Graham rule” was thrust

the findings were more dramatic: Most

back into the national dialogue (the

women and almost half of men said

evangelist famously refused to be alone

having drinks or dinner with someone

with a woman who was not his wife).

of the opposite sex who isn’t your spouse

Group and commissioned by the American Bible Society reveals how America’s four adult generations— millennials (defined here as 18-32), Gen Xers (33-51), boomers (52-70) and elders (71 and up)—feel about the Bible. They found that not only are millennials the least engaged with the Bible (only 17 percent read it at least four times a week), but they are the most likely to “not hold a very high view of Scripture” and “believe it is just another book of teachings written by men that contain stories and advice.”

Critics of the rule say that it unfairly puts women at a disadvantage,

is wrong. Times religion reporter Elizabeth

especially in professions that

Dias noted a personal impact on

traditionally feature a disproportionate

Twitter. She said the concept “poses an

amount of men in positions of

interesting challenge for women religion

leadership. However, recent research

journalists—sourcing is different for

from The New York Times found that

men who can meet with similar leaders

many Americans believe the self-

privately.” Like, seemingly, reporting on

imposed rule is a good idea.

a political figure like Pence.

Curiously, the study was unclear on piggyback rides.

MOST SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE BIBLE

33%

MILLENNIALS

29%

GEN XERS

27%

BOOMERS

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032

AGES 18-32

AGES 33-51

AGES 52-70

ELDERS AGES 71+

2017

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CURRENT

[S H U F F L E U P A N D D E A L]

SUNDAY MORNING: THE GAME S

STA RT

URE, OBSERVING THE SABBATH IS A COMMANDMENT, but sometimes

getting out of bed on the weekend isn’t easy. Play this handy game to help you determine if you are at risk for playing hookie.

7:30 a.m., Sunday. The alarm clock sounds. Decision time.

I’M GOING TO GET READY TO GO TO CHURCH!

WHAT? IT’S NOT LIKE IT’S EASTER OR ANYTHING.

I DON’T NEED TO GO TO CHURCH TODAY.

Why Not?

MY CHURCH IS JUST HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS.

OK, FINE. I'LL GO. That’s the spirit. What are you gonna wear?

SOMETHING COOL

SOMETHING FANCY

WHO CARES?

YES

They’ve got coffee and bagels at your church, right?

SEPT-OCT

034

You gonna be able to stay awake during church without coffee?

2017

IS THAT BAD?

Let us guess. You listen to church on a podcast, right?

Are you riding a motorcycle?

Are you able to go to an actual church service? YES

I GUESS

THERE’S SOME MOTORCYCLE PARKING LEFT.

FOUND A SPOT!

BRUNCH IT IS!

What’s the parking situation like?

CONGRATULATIONS!

You made it to church!

WORTH THE EFFORT Let's go!

YES

Are they ready?

ALMOST

Look, plugging into a faith community on a regular basis has its benefits. Not only does research show churchgoers live longer, they are also less likely to be depressed, are healthier, are less likely to get divorced and are more generous than those who don’t attend. All that to say, staying connected is probably a good idea.

Is anyone else going to church with you?

YOU DID NOT MAKE IT TO CHURCH. Better luck next week. Eat breakfast.

YES?

Uh-huh. Sure.

035

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

13/17

CURRENT

NBA Star Jeremy Lin Joins the Fight Against Sex Slavery in Thailand

MISC.

OK, this is the world’s worst Kickstarter project:

BROOKLYN NETS GUARD JEREMY

A real-life FOMO nightmare. The

LIN has been outspoken about

Aumi Mini USB

his Christian faith for years, so it

night light flickers

shouldn’t be much of a surprise he’s

a light to notify you

friends with a high-profile pastor.

of retweets and

But when Lin reached out to

emails while you

Eugene Cho, pastor of Seattle’s

sleep (or attempt

Quest Church and founder of

to sleep).

the nonprofit One Day’s Wages, he didn’t just want to financially support the group’s mission to fight sex slavery in Thailand; he wanted to be a part of it. This summer, Lin joined Cho on a trip to Thailand with a specific objective. As Cho explained on Instagram, they traveled to learn

Syndicated radio

“the various nuances, challenges

personality ‘Bible

and complexities around girls’

Answer Man’ Hank Hanegraaff

empowerment.”

explained why he

Cho said Lin’s involvement is

left Protestantism

sincere. “He and his team wanted

and joined the

to genuinely learn more about the

Greek Orthodox

various issues of global justice—

Church. He

both challenges and hopeful

told WFAE that

aspects.”

self-promoting “pastor-preneurs” made him question contemporary church values.

Jeremy Lin and Eugene Cho in Thailand this summer.

MARTIN FREEMAN IS WORKING ON A NEW SHOW ABOUT ADAM, EVE AND THE FALL

Disney has finally

THE STAR OF FRANCHISES including The Hobbit, Sherlock and The Avengers

“Wench” auction

has a new biblical project for his fans to geek out on: A retelling of the story of the fall of mankind. Martin Freeman is executive producing a new TV adaptation of the classic poem “Paradise Lost” which tells the story of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, as written in the book of Genesis. One of his fellow producers told Variety the show would be like “a biblical Games of Thrones.” That’s right, angels, demons and viewer-discretion-advisement levels of violence.

SEPT-OCT

036

removed the scene from its Pirates of the Caribbean ride. That was somehow still a thing in 2017.

2017

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apu.edu/music-entrepreneurship apu.edu/screenwriting

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14/17

CURRENT

Which One of TV’s Aimless, Drifting Millennial Loners Are You? How to identify with, and learn from, some of the best characters on TV.

AMERICA LOVES A LONER.

necessarily by choice and often,

From James Dean to Clint

not without cost to their own

Eastwood to Rihanna, we’ve

emotional well-being. They are,

always had a penchant for

in other words, a lot like a lot

anyone who seems like they

of millennials—desperate for

just wake up, roll out of bed

community and connection,

and take to the streets without

but not quite sure where to

a care in the world or a need

find it.

for a plan—much less a care about what others think. But lately, some of our loners

TV is where we sort through these characters, hoping to find a glimpse of ourselves and

have been getting a little more

maybe, a couple answers along

nuanced. Look at characters

the way. Hoping to see yourself

like Bojack Horseman, Jessica

in one of television’s aimless,

Jones and Arya Stark. These

drifting millennial loners?

characters are loners, but not

Here’s a guide:

THE GREAT PRETENDER

THE STUDENT

DEV: MASTER OF NONE

ELEANOR: THE GOOD PLACE

Aziz Ansari’s Dev Shah represents sort of an aspirational aimless loner, because he’s pretty good at faking it until he makes it. The only one he’s really fooling is himself.

On the surface, Eleanor probably looks like the most messed-up type on this list. But she’s also the only one doing anything meaningful to make herself better. SEE ALSO: KIMMY,

SEE ALSO: FIONA, SHAMELESS

SEE ALSO: BOJACK HORSEMAN, BOJACK HORSEMAN

SEPT-OCT

038

2017

15/17

PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN HARRISON

CURRENT

Fuller’s Makoto Fujimura discussing worship and theology with Bono.

Bono Has Figured Out What’s Wrong With Christian Music U2

FRONTMAN AND ANTI-POVERTY ACTIVIST

of difficult themes like hubris, searching, rage, tears and

BONO recently teamed with Fuller

humility, explaining, “They had utility.” Bono then asked,

Theological Seminary’s FULLER STUDIO to

“Why is it, in Christian music, I can’t find them?” He makes it

create a series of videos that look at the book

clear however, that the thoughts weren’t meant to condemn

of Psalms and what they can teach. After

modern songwriters, but to free them from contemporary

analyzing the text, Bono made an interesting observation in

expectations of what worship music can really be. Bono

the “Beyond the Psalms” series: The Psalms actually point

said, “I really want this conversation to unlock some artists,

out what’s missing in much of modern Christian music. He

because I think there are trapped artists, and I’d like them to

noted that the book of Psalms is “brutally honest” and is full

be untrapped.”

MISC.

SEPT-OCT

Amazon recently purchased the

For the fourth time in five years,

Nearly 100 leaders from across the

grocery chain Whole Foods for

Chattanooga, Tennessee, was

spectrum of evangelicalism have

$13.7 billion, which shows why

named America’s “Most Bible-

signed the Justice Declaration,

they’ve been charging so much for

Minded City” by Barna and the

asking politicians to reform the

their granola all these years.

American Bible Society.

American prison system.

040

2017

041

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

CURRENT

16/17

[ T H E C H E AT S H E E T ]

6 Ways to Get a Meaningful Career Off the Ground How do you go from a “good job” to a career you’re passionate about? These pro-tips will help. BY A S H L E Y A B R A M S O N

ACCORDING TO A 2015 Gallup study, millennials

are the least-engaged group in the American workforce—which may be why only 35 percent feel “very satisfied” in their careers. In a culture where pursuing stability while running after your dreams might feel a little like swimming upstream, here are a few ways millennials can make the most of their 20s and 30s—and have a little fun doing it.

FIGURE OUT YOUR PASSION

In his book Wishful Thinking, theologian Frederick Buechner gives a novel definition of vocation: “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Working hard is easier when you are working on something you love.

SEPT-OCT

042

HONE IN ON CORE VALUES

Liz Cohen, founder of Next Step Careers, defines these as “one’s judgment of what’s important in life.” Consider negotiables and non-negotiables, and then move forward from there.

UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA

Think of your social media accounts like secondary resumes—other dimensions through which you share snippets of who you are. Share wisely and strategically.

LEAVE A HOBBY A HOBBY

Lifelong entrepreneur and founder of the clothing company Wildly Co., Hayley Morgan, cautions that not all passions can also be livelihoods—and that’s OK.

START A SIDE HUSTLE

If you know exactly what you love doing, but your day job isn’t your niche, it might be time to use some off-work hours to develop skills, earn extra money and build a portfolio.

LEVERAGE RESOURCES

Lean on connections with friends, family and people in your church. Also, most colleges offer (free) career counseling services to their graduates.

2017

043

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

CURRENT

17/17

[T H E B IG Q U E S T IO N]

What’s your best advice for someone trying to overcome failure? I

t’s easy to reflect on your successes, it’s another thing to get honest about your failures. But for successful people, it’s not that failing didn’t happen along the way; they were able to use the experience, learn from it and move on. We asked three successful influencers

for the advice they would give to someone attempting to overcome a failure. Their answers weren’t just encouraging; they actually show that failing is sometimes necessary if you truly want to find success.

SEPT-OCT

Carl Lentz

Jenny Yang

Angela Davis

Pastor of Hillsong New

Vice President of Advocacy and

Speaker, Motivational Coach,

York

Policy, World Relief

Nike Athlete

TALK ABOUT IT. THAT’S THE FIRST

FAILURES ARE THE MARKERS FOR

THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT LESSONS THAT

step to moving beyond it. We tend to keep our worst failures the most private. But when you bring it into the light, people can help you and you can begin to use it, rather than it using you.

your future success. Failures have

can only be learned in failure. And those lessons are preparing you for success. The infrastructure of your character has to be able to handle success before it’s achieved. There is foundational work that is taking place in failure, that is ultimately preparing you for what is in front of you. Don’t give up. What is for you, is for you.

a negative connotation, but I see them as key lessons that help us become better at what we’re called to do while building resilience and courage. I think the adage is true that it’s not about how many times you’ve failed but how many times you pick yourself up that matters.

044

2017

045

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Minimal Effort

SEPT-OCT

046

2017

Designer, author and HGTV personality Erin Loechner is known for her “less is more” aesthetic. But it wasn’t until she applied that philosophy to her own life that she found contentment.

BY H O L LY E L L I S

ive years ago, L.A. stylist Erin Loechner had a revelation. She was a rising internet star thanks to her popular design blog, Design for Mankind, and had just been tapped to star in an online series for HGTV. She was a young wife and mother, had amassed a large following on social media, and her work was getting featured in home decor-kingmaking publications like Dwell, Marie Claire and Elle Decor. Things were moving fast. But on December 20, 2012, she

less for my life.” She went on to describe how draining the

opened her computer and penned

process of trying to keep up with everything had become.

what The New York Times would later call a “manifesto” to a new ap-

The last line to readers said, “I wish you many moments of slowness.”

proach of working as a professional blogger and online personality.

MOMENTS OF SLOWNESS

“We live in a world of more,” she

In her early 20s, Loechner’s life was the opposite of slow. She

wrote. “And we take it all in, book-

and her new husband, Ken, moved to Los Angeles, where she

marking each project for future use

launched her then-fledgling blog.

when ‘someday’ is finally today. Yet

“It ended up not being for us,” she says, a fact that the two

friends, I fear that someday will nev-

were forced to confront head-on after they received a medi-

er come. Because there will contin-

cal bombshell. “[Ken] was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” she

ually be more to do, to see, to buy.”

says. “And we kind of shifted gears.”

She explained in the post, “I want

After the diagnosis, Loechner realized their lives were full

less. I want less for this site; I want

of “a lot of distraction, a lot of running away, a lot of chasing

047

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

“It’s about surrendering the metric altogether. It’s not to be measured. You get today, it’s a gift, not a given.” things.” In search of a change of pace, they decided to leave

her wardrobe down, limiting her so-

Southern California for the Midwest. But after announcing

cial media presence, even simplify-

their move to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on her blog, things took

ing the food she ate.

another dramatic shift.

Yes, these are all outward steps,

HGTV reached out. The network wanted to document the

but they were about “taking the

renovation of their home for an online show. Instead of slow-

decision-making out of things that

ing down, their lives began moving faster than they could

don’t really need decision-making,”

have ever imagined.

she explains. “I think there’s a rea-

“We thought the move itself would kind of slow our lives for us, but then we started living faster than ever,” she says.

son why Steve Jobs only wore a black turtleneck and jeans every day.”

Around the same time, they became parents, and Loech-

Loechner, who landed a show

ner’s online profile began to skyrocket. She spoke at events

with a major network, started a

hosted by companies like The Walt Disney Company, IKEA,

family and became a well-known

Martha Stewart and Home Depot. Her blog readership and

designer all before she turned 30,

social media follower count was soaring but, for Loechner,

has come to a realization: Being able

something was broken.

to balance all of life’s busyness isn’t

Her style and her personal brand is based on the idea of

about finding ways to take on more,

minimalism—the design concept that says true beauty is

it’s about seeking ways to do less

found in simplicity, not complexity.

without obsessing over it.

If it’s true of design, Loechner figured, why couldn’t it be true in life?

So, what does this new kind of living—that strikes a balance between obsessing over success or obsessing

CHASING SLOW

over simplicity—actually look like?

Earlier this year, Loechner released her first book: Chasing

Loechner says it’s all about creating

Slow. It tells the story of her journey, and why finally slowing

margin. “Sabbath is there for a rea-

down has given her a new appreciation for the beauty of the

son,” she says.

things she has in her life.

“It’s not about the limitations and

But Loechner has realized just slowing down isn’t enough.

the measurements and metrics,” she

True simplicity, she says, has involved more than just shift-

says. “It’s not about taking your life-

ing professional priorities. “The temptation was ‘productivity

style and making it more like one

equals results,’” she says, admitting that focusing on using all

certain thing. It’s about evaluating

of her energy to live simply ended up being just as draining

the path that you’re on.

as striving for success.

“What do you want for your fam-

“You can, in fact, chase this slow lifestyle, as fast as you’re

ily, and how are you going to get

chasing this fast one,” she says, explaining the paradox of at-

there? Don’t chase the fast life. Don’t

tempting to “chase” a simpler pace. “It’s about surrendering

chase the slow. Chase what God

the metric altogether, and resisting the temptation to mea-

wants for you life, and ask Him how

sure your life. It’s not to be measured. You get today, it’s a gift,

to get there.”

not a given. “You have to not fall into the trap of not busying yourself on whatever track you’re on—whether that’s the freelance career or at home with two kids,” she says. For Loechner, change started with practical steps—cutting

SEPT-OCT

048

HOLLY ELLIS is a lifestyle writer living in Brooklyn with her dog, Frisbee.

2017

EQUIPPING TOMORROWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MINISTRY LEADERS.

B I R M I N G H A M , A L A B A M A ( 2 0 5 ) .7 3 1 .7 3 3 9 HIGHLANDSCOLLEGE .COM

_LANY

HAS

ARRI BY JESSE CAREY

The trio has finally released their debut album, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re holding nothing back.

2017

collaboration with Urban Outfitters for a LA-

VED

on the pop landscape.

NY-inspired fashion line, a single broken on

The band’s name is a mash-up of the ab-

Beats 1 by next-big-thing-finder Zane Lowe, a

breviations of New York and Los Angeles, and

world tour and, yes, interviews. Lots and lots

when you hear the record, you understand

of interviews.

why. Even though the trio initially recorded

“My manager is my best friend, but there’s

together in Nashville, Klein says their sound

times where it’s like if I ever see his name on

is a “rebellion against the Nashville way and

my phone one more time, I’m going to tell

how people tend to make music there.”

him to never call me again,” Klein says. He’s only half-joking.

In some songs like “The Breakup” and “It Was Love,” they capture the nervous energy of New York and the post-punk, Brooklyn-rock

INSTINCT AND CONVICTION

attitude. But in upbeat, windows-down sin-

The thing is, Klein isn’t ungrateful or enti-

gles like “ILYSB” and “Good Girls,” they’re

tled. He’s simply coming to terms with what it

pure sunny California pop.

means to be a professional perfectionist.

PAUL KLEIN IS EXHAUSTED.

Listening, you understand why Klein felt

He might not use the words himself, but he

the need to tightly control the execution. The

is a kind of visionary by nature. Klein knows

line between true innovative inspiration and

exactly what he wants a song to sound like

derivative riffing can be a thin one and walk-

before it’s recorded. The band signed with

ing it can be incredibly draining. But, frank-

a label only after informing them that they

ly, Klein doesn’t really care what his critics

would never hand over the log-ins to their

think.

social media accounts, Klein would help de-

“I’ve listened to this album a thousand

After releasing four acclaimed EPs over the

sign the merch and oversee the posters, they

times, and I’ve poured my heart and soul into

last two years, his band LANY—which also

would never, ever be told what to wear, and

this album,” he says. “And when we finished

consists of Jake Goss and Les Priest—finally

songs would be recorded their way.

it, we knew it was the best that we had. I feel

achieved an enviable status for a new band:

He recounted a story of the early days of

creatively limp and exhausted like I have

a string of hits and plenty of buzz. But Klein

LANY, realizing that if you want something

nothing else to give to this. That’s a really

isn’t sure how he feels about the machine he

done right, you can’t trust someone else to

good feeling because I can take a step back

has found himself in.

capture your vision, even if it’s exhausting,

and throw my arms up and be like, ‘Hate it or

and even if it costs you money.

love it, this was the best I could do.’”

“What I’m experiencing right now is something I’ve never done before in my life,” he

“I would be spending thousands of dollars

Like a lot of artists, Klein—on the verge

says with a bittersweet sigh. “There are times

to have someone help facilitate my vision,

of pop stardom—has come to a realization:

where I feel so exhausted and overwhelmed,

but my vision would be compromised,” he re-

There’s a major difference between being

where if I have to come up with one more

calls, adding that he “would spend thousands

a star and being an artist. A star just wants

idea, I feel like I will pass out or like I want to

of dollars on the supposed best musicians

fame and recognition, but an artist demands

quit, but I have to search deep within and get

in the world” only to redo the tracks from

respect, even if that means pouring every-

the right perspective.”

scratch. He scrapped tracks he recorded with

thing you’ve got into every single note.

It’s hard to blame him.

studio pros and headed to his kitchen where

“This album is really just a way to prove

This summer, the band released their ma-

the band set up the gear and instruments the

to the world that we deserve a seat at the ta-

way they wanted.

ble of musical and culture conversations,” he

jor label self-titled debut, a 16-song

“It was so nice to walk into a room with my

says. “I think putting this 16-track debut al-

pulls

friends and go completely off of pure instinct

bum [says], ‘We’re serious, and we deserve to

from the blend of

and conviction and no one in the room ever

be in the mix of all this.’”

new-wave

said no to anything,” he says. “Our only rule

epic

indie

that

rock

California

LANY

chill, and

was just follow your gut and instinct.”

dance

Klein is excited about the future, exhausted by the present but most of all, he’s just trying to figure out how he feels about finally

pop they’ve been

A SEAT AT THE TABLE

mastering

After attending Oral Roberts University in

“I have dedicated my entire existence and

Tulsa, Oklahoma, Klein met his bandmates

focus to building LANY and making it the

since

forming in 2014.

achieving everything he’s worked so hard for.

LANY packed 16 songs

The release has

following a move to Nashville, Tennessee.

absolute best,” he says. “And it doesn’t mean

into their long-awaited

come with all of

They then headed west to L.A., where they

that it doesn’t hurt sometimes.”

the

crafted their signature synth-driven, chill-

debut LP.

perks—and

trappings—of L-R: Les Priest, Paul Klein and Jake Goss

wave pop with catchy hooks and big heart.

major artist de-

The band’s commitment to capturing a sig-

but: a downtown

nature sound at all costs has paid off. Their

L.A. billboard, a

debut album is unlike anything else currently

051

JESSE CAREY is an editor for RELEVANT and a mainstay on the RELEVANT Podcast.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

SEPT-OCT

052

2017

[2 0 17 T V P R E V I E W ]

FOR YEARS, the prestige TV movement has helped the

works still seem interested in loosely biblically

medium of serialized storytelling become pop

based concepts, except now, things are taking a

culture’s most important channel for engaging

turn for the funny.

big ideas and sparking social dialogue the way

We may be at the peak of peak TV.

novels once did and movies now attempt to. But content trends are evolving as quickly as

R ACH E L J O N ES

tempted to follow the Bible as literally as possi-

the technology that broadcasts them, bringing

ble for a full year—into a sitcom. The show will

TV to a critical crossroads. Emerging platforms

be called By the Book, starring Jay R. Ferguson

and changing viewership habits could usher in a

as Chip, a man who takes a radical turn to reli-

new era of quality and cultural relevance, or TV

gion after his best friend dies. Warning: Because

could become so splintered and competitive that

this is a CBS show produced by a cast member

it takes a step back. A lot is riding on the latest

of The Big Bang Theory (Johnny Galecki), hilarity

batch of new shows.

may not necessarily ensue.

With the arrival of the 2017 fall TV season, we

CBS is adapting journalist A.J. Jacobs’ book, The Year of Living Biblically—in which he at-

In another show about a man called by a

break down the trends, new shows and emerg-

higher power to make a difference Jason Ritter

ing platforms on the horizon as TV moves into

is chosen by an angel to try to save the world in

unforeseen territory.

ABC’s Gospel of Kevin.

Will prestige TV shows continue to be a

NBC’s The Good Place, which is a riff on the

sustainable model for studios? How do program-

religious afterlife, returns for season two follow-

ming trends mirror cultural values in 2017? Can

ing a massive twist that challenges viewers’

Facebook become a major TV player? Will Barb

preconceptions about judgment, hell, redemp-

ever get the justice she deserves?

tion and eternity. Sure, these are high-minded

It’s too early to know for sure but this season will be a lot of fun to sit back and watch.

theological and ethical concepts, but this is still a show from Michael Schur, a producer of The Office, Parks and Rec and Brooklyn Nine-Nine,

SUPERNATURALLY FUNNY

starring the reliably hilarious Kristen Bell, so it’s

In recent TV seasons, there’s been no shortage

all still played for laughs. Owen Wilson is God and Daniel Radcliffe is

of supernatural-inspired

an angel responsible for humanity’s prayers

prime-time shows—

in Miracle Workers, which debuts early next

many with clear biblical

year on TBS. The real secret weapon here is the

touchpoints. However,

show’s producer: Saturday Night Live master-

most of last year’s big

mind Lorne Michaels.

supernatural series like

And if traditional comedy isn’t your thing,

The Exorcist, Lucifer,

NBC is planning an Easter Sunday airing of a

Outcast and Legion tended

live prime-time performance of the controver-

to focus on the dark side

sial Broadway musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

of spirituality, exploring the worlds of the demonic

AMERICA, GREAT AGAIN?

and possessed.

The prime-time landscape is no stranger to

This year though, net-

shows that feature espionage, political drama and violence in the world of the American government. But where series like House of Cards, 24, Homeland and Designated Survivor explore

Gospel of Kevin’s Jason Ritter is a man on a mission for the Man upstairs.

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[2 0 17 T V P R E V I E W ]

corruption within the highest levels of the military and Washington, networks have taken a new creative strategy in response to the real-life political turmoil and polarization unfolding in the news: They’re taking on shows that portray the American military

RETURNING SHOWS WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT

in a noble light, not a questionable one. CBS’ SEAL Team tells the stories of members of the real-life Navy special forces unit. NBC’s The Brave (which was originally titled For God and Country) follows Anne Heche and, as the network describes it, “the complex world of America’s elite undercover military heroes” as they “use their unbreakable bond and commitment to freedom to save lives of innocent people.” Go America! Valor is

STRANGER THINGS NETFLIX (Oct. 27)

The Upside Down is somehow getting even creepier.

set amongst an Army unit of helicopter pilots as they take part in 2001 action film Behind Enemy Lines about an American soldier

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

who must escape enemy territory after surviving a crash landing.

HBO (Oct. 1)

risky rescue operations. Fox is even developing a TV version of the

The patriotic trend seems to be an indicator that while re-

After a five-year hiatus, Larry David is returning to TV. We’ve never needed him more.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY CBS (Sept. 24)

If the latest movies have shown us anything, it’s that Star Trek is committed to becoming relevant to a new generation of space nerds.

THE SIMPSONS FOX (Oct. 1)

Meme culture has done something unexpected to The Simpsons: After 28 seasons, the series has become as ubiquitous as ever.

BLACK-ISH ABC (September)

Brandon Micheal Hall plays a rapper/ politician in The Mayor.

al-world headlines are fueled by political unrest and scandal, audiences looking for the escapism of TV are hungry for shows that are inspired by a different, more patriotic narrative regarding

The sitcom about racial tension in America is also one of prime time’s funniest and most important shows.

America’s place in the world. MILLENNIAL HUSTLE

With recent studies showing that more than half of all millennials plan on starting their own businesses, this next trend shouldn’t be all that surprising. Networks are creating shows featuring millennials hustling to make their big dreams happen. Recent hits like Atlanta, Silicon Valley, Master of None and Crashing feature young artists, entrepreneurs and performers attempt-

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2017

[2 0 17 T V P R E V I E W ]

Zach Braff (remember him?) is a startup founder in Alex Inc.

ing to make it big in their respective fields, and several new

watching TV, why not make complementary program-

series look at the highs and lows of striking out on your own.

ming for them there? Twitter is also continuing to ex-

In ABC’s The Mayor, a young rapper hatches a seemingly

periment with TV collaborations after they streamed

perfect publicity stunt to finally get some press about his

several NFL games last year. In May, they announced

music—he’s going to run for mayor of his town. It’s all fun

a partnership with Bloomberg Media to launch a 24/7

and games until he accidentally wins the election and has to

news channel and are working with several other

actually serve the community.

major players on the TV and digital landscape to

In AMC’s Loaded, a group of video game inventors suddenly has to grapple with how to deal with the trappings of

create programming. And though Snapchat and Twitter’s partnership

success and money after selling their company, earning a

plans with TV’s big players offer intuitive viewing

fortune and a new set of headaches in the process.

options that piggyback on existing programming,

In Alex, Inc, which releases later this year on ABC, Zach

Facebook has something far more ambitious in mind.

Braff plays a radio journalist who strikes out to found his

This summer, the social media giant announced

own podcasting startup. If the plot sounds familiar, that’s

plans to essentially launch a Hollywood-level studio

because it’s the story of Start-Up, the explosively popular

that would commit massive production budgets (up

Gimlet podcast on which the show is based.

to $3 million per episode!) to create high-quality content. This fall, they are preparing to launch a

THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TV

series of game shows and dramas that all have one

The last decade has seen a huge shift in the ways viewers

thing in common: wholesomeness. According to

watch TV, with streaming networks like Netflix, Hulu and

The Wall Street Journal, Facebook has no interest in

Amazon offering binge-able, on-demand original content

“political dramas, news [or] shows with nudity and

alongside cable TV favorites. But this fall may mark TV’s

rough language.” Because if there’s one thing we have

next big evolution: social media TV.

enough of in our Facebook feeds already, it’s political

In recent months, Snapchat inked deals with networks

drama.

including NBCUniversal, the BBC and ABC, and is currently developing content with the likes of ESPN, Discovery, A&E and more. Their vision is to develop spin-off, original, extremely short content to capture users on what industry trend-watchers call “the second screen.” Essentially, if

R ACHEL JONES is a freelance entertainment writer living in Boston.

people are used to goofing around on their iPhones while

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2017

T ERRY CREWS GETS REAL One of TV’s most recognizable faces comes clean.

BY TYLER HUCKABEE

erry Crews has a presence.

image. It has nothing to do with what other

ADDICTED TO RELIGION

He’s tall, taller than you

people think about success.”

Terry Crews was born in Flint, Michigan, the

think, and his muscles are

On the one hand, that might sound easy

shaped in such a fashion

for a guy like Terry Crews to say. When

as to make ancient statues

you’ve got a great image, lots of money and

son of a man addicted to booze and a woman who, Crews says, was “addicted to religion.” “We grew up Christian, but we were really

of Greek gods look as shapely as a bag of

are successful by any possible definition of

on the far-right,” Crews says. “We weren’t

melted taffy. But even his wrought-iron

the term, it’s easy to wax philosophical about

allowed to listen to music. We weren’t

frame can’t keep up with the sheer force

how image and earthly success don’t matter.

allowed to go to dances. We weren’t allowed

of his personality. An overwhelming sense

But Crews does speak as an authority on the

to go to the movies. We were in church a lot.

of Terry-ness reverberates from him in

subject. This is a man who’s fought through

I have to say probably in a seven-day week,

boundless reserves.

one of the more dramatic career roller

we were in church four out of those seven

It’s easy to see him on TV, flexing in an

coasters in modern pop culture history.

days and then we went twice on Sunday.”

Old Spice commercial or stealing scenes on

His professional life has been a series of

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and think for a guy like

unlikely breaks and long hours. And if his

for a young kid, regardless of how religious

him, this all just came naturally. But he’ll be

professional life has been dizzying, his

his mom might be. “It was one of those

the first to tell you that everything he has is

personal one has been a tornado—one that’s

things where you knew if you went out to

because of hard work and an ethic centered

tested the bonds of marriage and fatherhood

an event or a party, someone was going to

in his Christian faith. It’s that hard work that

like few have. Crews is aware of how rare his

die,” Crews says. “Someone’s beef was going

has given him a different view of what it

story is, and he’s grateful.

to be settled there. I had to become a hermit

means to be “successful,” because, as he also

“The fact that we are still here 28 years,

Flint was (and still is) a dangerous place

because there were so many shootings. At

knows firsthand, as hard as it is to achieve,

five beautiful kids, one grandbaby (yep,

one time Flint was the murder capital of the

all it takes is one mistake to have everything

Terry Crews is a grandpa)—I know a lot of

United States.”

you’ve worked for go away.

people in Hollywood that wish they could

Even today, Flint has the fourth-highest

“For me, the main definition of success is

be close to something like that. And I think

murder rate in the country, but in recent

doing what you want to do the way you want

that’s my proudest production,” Crews says.

years, Flint’s been infamous for a different

to do it,” Crews says. “That’s it. It has nothing

“Because let me tell you, it was a horror

kind of headline: the water crisis, and the

to do with money. It has nothing to do with

movie for a while.”

government’s subsequent attempt to cover

057

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

it up (“Everybody has been affected by it,”

movie” rule until she relented—and the

Crews says.).

movie changed his life.

In his youth, Crews wanted to escape

“I saw what I wanted my art to do for

But it was also the thing that nearly tore his life apart. All of a sudden, Crews had a taste of

Flint. He played football during the day and

me,” Crews says. “I was painting spaceships,

fame and was hanging out with some of the

painted portraits in the evenings, balancing

heroes and comic books, and drawing all

biggest names in Hollywood. It was enough

his obvious physical acumen with a creative

this kind of fantasy art, and Star Wars was

to make him forget about what had brought

gift in much the same way he still does today.

everything. I was like, ‘This is what I wanna

him to that point and to betray the morals

He went to Western Michigan on half an art

do.’ So I was talking about being a creator,

he’d always leaned on. It was enough to

scholarship and half a football scholarship.

never an actor.”

make him risk losing everything he’d worked

While there he met and married his wife,

After the NFL, Crews moved his family

so hard for.

Rebecca, and played well enough to get

to L.A. with intentions of getting involved

drafted by the Los Angeles Rams.

in the animation industry—even shopping

massage parlor, and I cheated on my wife,”

“It was funny because I got married while

“Schwarzenegger and I actually went to a

his creative portfolio around Disney—but

Crews says. “I vowed I would never tell. And

I was in college, and while I was dating my

this was during Pixar’s CGI boom, and

eight years went by, and my wife was always

wife, I told her, ‘First of all, we’re going

hand-drawn animators were in low demand.

questioning me, and I would just deny it.” ROCK BOTTOM

“There are times when you think you hit rock bottom and what you’ve done is you actually hit a cliff,” Crews says. “You just hit the ledge; you haven’t fallen all the way

“T H E T H I N G A B O U T R E L I G I O N I S T H AT I T C A N B E C O M E A M A S K T H AT YO U W E A R S O L O N G YO U B E C O M E I T. H E R E I WA S : A CHRISTIAN, A CHURCHGOER, BUT I H A D A D O U B L E L I F E .”

yet. The thing about religion is that it can become a mask that you wear so long that you become it. Here I was: a Christian, a churchgoer, but I had a double life.” The subject of double lives comes up a lot with Crews—particularly the way religion can breed them. “It’s funny,” he says. “They say during church conventions they sell more pornography from the hotel rooms than any other time. You look at the state of Utah as super big on the Mormon faith, but they’re also the No. 1 place where people consume pornography online. It’s because of that double life. It’s that religious thing: Let me keep my image, but deep down

to play in the NFL, and then we’re going

Crews started sweeping floors to make ends

to move to L.A., and we’re going to make

meet and eventually worked his way up to

movies,’” Crews says. “That was one of

doing security on film sets.

the first things I ever told her. It’s so wild because it’s actually how it happened.” And it’s true, that’s what happened. But things took a few turns along the way. “WHAT I WANNA DO”

“I did not want to be an actor,” Crews says. “I was going to be a creator.”

A job on the set on Antoine Fuqua’s

underneath I have to do something else.” Crews isn’t being judgmental here. He’s speaking from the experience of heartache— an ugly secret he kept buried for eight years,

Training Day led to a walk-on role. A job

dismissing his wife’s frequent questions

on Ice Cube’s Friday led to a small role

about what was wrong, shoving it all into a

on Friday After Next. A job on Arnold

sordid place in his heart that he could almost

Schwarzenegger’s End of Days led to a role

wish away from existence. Almost, not quite.

on The Sixth Day.

“I was also addicted to pornography at

“Just show up,” Crews says. “I’ve always

the same time,” he says. “Once the internet

been one to realize that if you do just show

came out, even before that I remember going

He’d been inspired by a drive-in movie

up, amazing things can happen. Just go. Me

to bookstores. It was like my dirty secret.

theater showing of Star Wars—he begged

just going to see Denzel work turned out to

It was the thing that I couldn’t beat. And

his mother to make an exception to the “no

be a thing that changed my life forever.”

what I figured is everybody is just like that.

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2017

That pastor, that preacher they’re probably

through the secrets and lies. That’s no mean

moment, and a facade that was nearly a

addicted to porn, too.”

feat, but Crews is a good actor. And then one

decade old fell to pieces.

None of this makes Crews angry at the Church, but he understands why so

day, the whole performance fell apart. “It was eating at me, and I knew that I

“I told her,” he says. “And I remember just everything falling apart. She was like, ‘I’m

many people are. He’s deeply aware of the

wasn’t right,” he says. “But because of the

done with you. You’ve got to go. I’m through.

hypocrisy, and he doesn’t deny that it’s a

image, you have to keep it. And here I am

Don’t come home. It’s a wrap.’”

real problem for leaders. Christian influence

successful, a churchgoer. But I knew I wasn’t

can become a means of control in ways both

telling the truth, and one day—we call it

“GET BETTER FOR YOU”

extreme and subtle, and it does a number on

D-Day around our house—my wife just

Terry Crews does not seem like the type of

the people who get hurt in the fallout.

confronted me. I was actually in New York,

Hollywood star who would have a story

she was in L.A., and she said, ‘Terry, what is

like this. Terry Crews is the fun guy—like a

it I don’t know about you?’”

walking subversion of the alpha male.

Crews knew he’d “taken things too far”— his addiction and affair were risking his marriage, his family and everything that

Crews says at this moment, a divine voice

He—along with Parks and Rec’s Ron

he was building for himself as a real actor

in his head told him: “If you don’t tell her the

Swanson and Dos Equis’ Most Interesting

in Hollywood. But for years, the risk of

truth, I’m done with you. You can go ahead,

Man in the World—turned the patriarchy

exposing his secrets felt greater than the risk

but you’ll be doing everything without me.”

on its head by leaning into it. When Crews

of hiding them. He grit his teeth and smiled

That woke him up to the severity of the

059

jiggled his leaden pectorals for the most

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

famous entry of Tim and Eric’s Old Spice campaign, you couldn’t tell if he was laughing with America’s doofus bro culture or at it. By removing any trace of irony, Crews’ entire persona became ironic. The fact that he never winked at the camera made you wonder if the entire thing was a wink. It took someone with Crews’ level of ultra-masculine confidence to make America question its own ultra-masculine sense of confidence. And so it’s difficult to imagine this man, this living cultural meme, scrambling, desperate, drowning. But that’s where Crews found himself personally, even as his career was soaring. “The thing is Hollywood doesn’t care that you lose your family,” Crews says. “They just don’t care. You’ll still be very successful. They’ll just go ‘OK, next, no big deal so you can just keep these plates going.’ But I knew who I was. I knew what I had done. And I knew that I wasn’t truthful. And the hard part is going home and knowing who you are. And let me tell you something, it was the hardest thing ever.” His world ripping at the seams, his family splintering, Crews turned to his pastor who, he says, gave him “the best advice ever.” “He said, ‘Terry, you can’t do anything to get your wife back, but you have to get better for you.’ And I realized he was totally right. And I went to rehab. I went to a rehab in Phoenix that dealt with a lot of pastors and church people that had gotten involved in scandals and different things, and kind of had double lives and all this stuff. And the first thing they told me was to really …” Here Crews breaks off for a moment, searching for the right word. “I was in denial the whole time,” he says finally. “I was thinking I may be bad, but I ain’t that bad. And I found out, ‘Yeah, you’re that bad.’” His marriage didn’t end. Crews thought it was going to, but it didn’t. He’s still married today, but those were, he says, hard days. “There were times when I just knew I didn’t have a wife, I didn’t have a family, I knew my life was over, but there is going to be something that comes from this,” Crews says. “God was literally telling me, ‘Hey man, there is a greater meaning here.’ And now I can see it. In hindsight you can always see it,

SEPT-OCT

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2017

but you can’t see it going through it.” It took a few months after Crews

comedies on network television. Crews plays Sergeant Terry Jeffords, an over-the-top

confessed to the addiction and infidelity, but

caricature of a lead dog, with an easy-touch

eventually his wife agreed to give therapy a

heart hiding just a single scrape away from

try. He says it took “years of us really being

the surface. It’s a great performance and it’s

honest and sharing and it was a lot of tears,

made him a TV star, but Crews is just happy

a lot of heartbreak.

to feel successful. Not just in his career, but

“I would come home, and my wife would be in tears and I didn’t even know how long

in his life. “Success to me is when my wife can look

she had been crying,” he says. “And I would

at me, and she’s proud, and my kids can

put an arm around her and it was one of

look at me, and they’re not ashamed,” Crews

those things where you can’t fix it because

says. “And they know I’m the same person

you’re the guy who did it.”

in the house that I am when I’m outside of

Crews set about trying to improve his life.

the house. There’s no double life. It’s all me.

He realized how much of his life had been

It’s all one. We had to break down all this

split in two—the public grin and the private

stuff with the kids too. Just let them know.

anguish. “I’d learned to hide who I was. You

No hiding. Dad has this problem. And we

learn to hide your feelings. You learn to just

worked it out and they went through the

split in two. You’re in a very strict religious

whole thing with us. It sucked, but I’m free.”

environment and also you’re wrapped up in

And now, he’s in the business of freeing

your dad’s an alcoholic, the whole thing, you

others. Crews has become a regular on the

learn to be two people.”

speaking circuit, telling his story in hopes

But it was ultimately his commitment to

other people suffering under the burden of

fixing it that convinced her he was serious

pornography and infidelity can be inspired

about their marriage.

to get real about their own issues.

“What [Rebecca] did see is that I was

“SUCCESS TO ME IS WHEN MY WIFE CAN L O O K AT M E , AND SHE’S PROUD, AND MY KIDS CAN LOOK AT M E , A N D T H E Y ’R E N O T A S H A M E D .”

“If I would have heard this when I was a

authentic about being real and really

young man or even earlier in my marriage it

battling what this was,” Crews says. “Because

might have saved me,” Crews says. “So what

All of it—it’s all Terry Crews ... but it was

again, I did not improve my life or change

I said is, ‘I’m going to be the guy who is going

never just Terry Crews. He’s always had

in order to get her back. I did that because

to tell his story and hope it helps someone

someone else there with him.

I needed to be a better person and by being

else.’ Not to point fingers. It doesn’t matter

a better person, she knew she could come

whether it’s a church, a community function,

you’re always like, ‘God are you here?’”

back. It took a while.”

a group of entertainers or a podcast.

Crews says. “And He’s like, ‘I’m here.’ It’s

“When you’re going through something

With the help of his pastor, his therapist,

“I don’t limit myself to religious events or

funny because there’s a will to pleasure,

his wife and his faith, Crews found a way to

anything like that, but my job I feel is to tell

there’s a will to power and then there’s a

bring the two split sides of his persona into

my story, and whoever invites me to do that

will to meaning. I think every true Christian

one and heal his marriage in the process.

and is willing to support me and basically

lives his life with a will to meaning. Because

give me a platform, I love talking about this

pleasure and power, they all fade, they don’t

stuff. Especially about the toxic masculinity

last. But you can find meaning in suffering.

thing and the way I saw myself in regards

You don’t learn it before you go through it.

in therapy, was talking about it,” he says.

to my own family that affected everything I

And let me tell you, it’s weird because no one

“And the more I could talk about it, the more

was about.”

really had answers, but the answers were

“Our relationship is better than it’s ever been,” he says. “I realized that the big thing for me, even

spoken to me. It’s kind of like as I was more

power I had to fight it. And it’s really strange, because when everybody knows your issue,

STILL SHOWING UP

open to them, they just came out of my heart.

it’s like this is the thing, the more you try to

“Just show up” is one of Terry Crews’ mottos.

It’s like God speaks to everyone and tells

hide it, the more strong it got. The bigger a

It’s served him well. Show up to a football

them what the right move is. But you’ve got

secret, oh my God, it consumes your whole

practice, get drafted into the NFL. Show

to be open.”

life. It’s kind of like once you expose that

up to a security job, get cast in a Denzel

stuff you sweep it away, but the more you try

Washington movie.

to hide it the worse it gets.”

Crews’ secret isn’t just showing up for gigs, but showing up for life. And not just

“IT SUCKED, BUT I’M FREE”

showing up, but showing up as his whole

These days, of course, Crews is focused on

self. The mistakes. The heartache. The

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, one of the highest-rated

healing. His athletic side. His creative side.

061

T YLER HUCK A BEE is a writer living in Nashville, Tennessee. Follow him @ tylerhuckabee on Twitter.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Kiss everything you thought you knew about dating goodbye.

5 Christian Pick-Up Lines You Can Use No need to stumble into a conversation screaming, “What’s your life verse?” any longer. Here are a few surefire conversation starters to kick-start romance.

• Wanna be accountability partners?

Christian dating first emerged, but way back

GUIDELINE ONE: KEEP EACH OTHER GUESSING

around the fourth century, a Moabite immi-

Communication is important in relationships.

grant named Ruth laid down at the feet of

But in Christian relationships, what’s much

Boaz in an attempt to win his affection and

more important is vague communication.

ever since then, this whole Christian min-

Christian couples in the early throes of dating

gling thing has been complicated.

need to be as unclear with each other as pos-

hard to say exactly when the concept of

Granted, there’s not as much laying at

sible. In many cases, it’s advisable to remain

someone’s feet on the threshing floor today

unclear about whether or not you’re even in

as there was in Ruth’s time, but there are oth-

a relationship. Some mature Christians are

er complex customs: Courtship. DTRs. Side-

capable of making it all the way to their six-

hugs. Romance is confusing for everyone, but

month anniversary without ever establishing

Christian dating is its own little conundrum.

if they’re actually dating.

But fear not. We’ve compiled the Definitive

As a warning, some well-meaning friends

Guide to Christian Mingling to help you find

may encourage you to have a “DTR.” This

and keep your Proverbs 31 Woman or your

allegedly stands for “define the relation-

Boaz Bro.

ship” but in actuality stands for “death to

063

• How strict is your Billy Graham Rule? • Yours seems to be missing from the book of Numbers. • I’m looking to expand my singles ministry. • Let’s turn this YouVersion into an UsVersion.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Our new age of social media has made it easier than ever to craft a fantastical reality in which the person you’re dating is really the only person you ever need to interact with in any significant way. Now, it’s easy to think the start of a new relationship might be a time when you’d need sol-

5 Christian Break-Up Lines You Can Use

id friendships in which you can talk about how things are going in your love life. But remember, every second spent with a platonic person is a moment you could be spending with your new courtship partner. Why would you talk to a trust-

There’s no shame in a relationship not working out, but the way you end it matters. Here’s how to gently but firmly hit the brakes, while still letting them know you value them as a brother or sister in the Lord.

Don’ts and Definitely Don’ts for Your First Date

• I kissed dating you goodbye. • Love wins. Sometimes. Eventually. Not today. Not for you, anyway.

There are plenty of things you should know about going on a first date, but in Christian dating, it’s way more important to focus on what you shouldn’t do.

• God’s not dead but this relationship is. • Dare you to move (on).

• DON’T bring up past relationships.

• God has widened my territories.

• DEFINITELY DON’T have any past relationships. • DON’T go to a fancy restaurant. Demonstrate your lack of care for worldly pleasures.

romance.” Having an honest conversation about your feelings in which you truly communicate

• DEFINITELY DON’T go to a restaurant that serves alcohol. Probably best to just avoid eating out altogether.

your intentions may sound good, but it takes a lot of effort and authenticity. It’s much easier to just communicate through glances and pregnant pauses until your friendship turns into a commit-

• DON’T go somewhere quiet. Too tempting!

ted relationship via a sort of slow osmosis.

• DEFINITELY DON’T go somewhere crowded. Too noisy!

GUIDELINE TWO: ISOLATE YOURSELVES FROM COMMUNITY If you absolutely must have a real, official dat-

• DON’T bring up your messy family history.

ing relationship, it’s important that you protect it from any and all outside sources. The best way to

• DEFINITELY DON’T bring up your plans for a messy family future.

do this is by abandoning your respective communities and devoting every possible waking hour entirely to each other and each other only. You

• DON’T take a Bible.

can do this gradually, by slowly ghosting on each of your friends in hopes that they won’t notice

• DEFINITELY DON’T take an accountability partner.

you’re pulling away, but many couples prefer to just rip the Band-Aid off completely.

SEPT-OCT

064

2017

ed friend, gaining valuable insights when you

purity is less about drawing a legalistic line in

could be staring into the beautiful eyes of some-

the sand and more about pursuing a healthy

one who makes you feel weak in the knees, gain-

relationship with God and each other based on

ing ever more butterflies in your stomach? It’s a

honor, mutual respect and selflessness.” Lame.

no-brainer.

So instead of solid advice that encourages dis-

GUIDELINE THREE: PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES

cipline, responsibility and purity, we will establish, once and for all, exactly how far is too far in a Christian dating relationship.

This isn’t an easy one to talk about but, hey, it’s

Just kidding. The very fact that you’re asking

the one on everyone’s mind, right? How far is too

this question at all is a clear sign that you’ve

far? A lesser guide to Christian mingling might

crossed the line. Repent.

tell you something like “honoring God’s call to

1. Cuddle up under two separate blankets and try to place characters from Narnia on the Enneagram. 2. Flip through the pages of a bridal magazine and dream up ways to make the dresses more modest. 3. Sword drills. 4. Listen to some soothing Sigur Ros songs and replace all the fake language with Brene Brown quotes. 5. Take a loaf of bread down to the duck pond and have communion.

7 HOT Tips to Bring Your Courtship to the NEXT LEVEL

6. Carve each other’s initials into a tree with your exact model replica of Anduril, sword of King Elessar from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Courtship can get pretty steamy as is. What with all the meeting each other’s parents, hanging out with each other’s parents and sneaking in a little bit of alone time with each other’s parents, it’s no surprise that many couples find courtship too hot to handle. But if you’re really looking to spice things up, here are a few ways to do just that (obviously, in the presence of each other’s parents).

7. Head out to your local movie theater to catch a romantic flick. Watch in two separate theaters, to be safe. Talk about the movie with each other’s parents.

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GUIDELINE FOUR: GRAND GESTURES Every relationship is full of big, defining moments that you’ll look back on and cherish forever. Your first date. Your first kiss. Your exchanging of promise rings. Your third date. Your one-month anniversary. Your six-month anniversary. Your harvest moon anniversary. Your exchanging of pre-anniversary rings. The first time you both wore blue together. Each of these is a special moment and should be commemorated with the all-important grand gesture. This never-ending roller coaster of celebration can keep the delirious first few months of fairy tale romance alive almost indefinitely and stave off the hard work of learning about each other’s actual day-to-day lives. And if your courtship partner ever suggests that maybe the two of you should sit down to actually talk about real life instead of filling it all up with trivial events, it just means you’ve been slacking on filling your schedule with grand gestures.

GUIDELINE FIVE: RUSH INTO COMMITMENT Marriage is perhaps the most important decision you will ever make, and far too weighty to bog down with lots of prayer, contemplation and seeking advice from wiser

4 Christian Dating Site Red Flags to Be on the Lookout For

loved ones. The important thing with Christian dating is to rush through the various stages of romance as quickly as possible, all culminating in a variable sprint down the aisle. Yes, even the engagement should be kept as brisk as possible (disciplined couples can probably

If you see a dating site with any of these options, you’re better off just agreeing to meet that nice boy grandma keeps telling you about.

knock an engagement out in two weeks or so)

• “Dating Jesus” is one of the relationship status options.

romance.

to guard your mind from wayward thoughts like, “Am I sure this person is the one for me?” Such questions only get in the way of true

• Only men are allowed to swipe left. • Your profile pic must include you reading a devotional in a scenic location. • Your profile has to include what percentage of your Bible is highlighted.

SEPT-OCT

066

2017

Inside The Sanctuary Movement Meet the churches risking everything to save immigrants from deportation.

L Last May, Pastor Randall Keeney got a call from a woman at his church in Greensboro, North Carolina, with an unusual request. There was a woman, she said, who had immigrated to the United States but was undocumented. This was in the thick of the furor over increasingly aggressive deportation measures in the U.S., and she was seeking asylum. Would Keeney’s church, St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church, be willing to serve as her sanctuary? “We had a good long conversation in church with everyone,” Keeney relates. “There were no dissenting views. We asked and all we heard were yeses.” A short time later, the woman moved into the church, claiming it as sanctuary. She lives there to this day, and she’s not the only one who’s turned to a church when all other options have run out. A new report from Church World Service says 800 churches are now offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants in the United States. That’s only about 0.0025 percent of all churches in America, but it’s twice as many as existed before the 2016 election, and it’s made headlines as churches open their doors to people seeking asylum from the Trump administration’s crackdown. A HISTORY OF SANCTUARY

Offering sanctuary is an act of civil disobedience so, by definition, there aren’t a lot of rules regarding how you go about it. It wasn’t always that way. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Hebrews all codified the right to asylum into their laws, and these laws were appropriated into the Christian church in Medieval England. Criminals on the lam took refuge in a church (sometimes they had to hole up in a certain room inside the church, or even sit on a specific stool) and from there, had 40 days to weigh their options before the church turned them back over to authorities of the non-religious nature. No such written protocol exists today in the United States, but a surge in churches offering sanctuary kicked off in the 1980s, when places of worship began opening their doors to refugees from Central America. The movement gained fresh momentum over the past decade, as President Barack Obama ramped up deportation efforts to unprecedented levels, and that momentum continues to this day.

Living in a church isn’t much of a life, but it

very literal separation between church and

Marco Rubio infamously failed to get his

beats getting deported. Some churches turn

state to detain anyone who’s claimed asylum

amnesty bill through Congress in 2013,

closets or storage facilities into makeshift

in a house of worship. More than likely,

which helped pave the way for a surge in

bedrooms

donate

they’re aware that history does not smile

anti-immigrant

groceries, toiletries and toys for kids. In the

on officials who’ve broken the tradition of

presidential campaign. Much of that surge

meantime, it’s up to the church leadership

respecting sanctuary.

was fueled by white evangelical and other

while

congregants

sentiment

during

2016’s

to figure out the details of how long the

The most famous example is the so-called

white mainline Protestant religious groups

arrangement will last. Some churches help

“Murder in the Cathedral” of Archbishop

who are more likely to see immigrants as a

provide undocumented immigrants with

Thomas Beckett by Henry II’s errant knights,

threat to American values than other groups,

legal counsel and transportation, too.

which was the basis of a T.S. Eliot play and a

according to a 2015 PRRI study.

1964 movie starring Peter O’Toole. But there

But as Trump’s executive order has

AN UNWRITTEN RULE

are more recent stories. Just last year, police

heightened deportation efforts, it’s also

Legally, federal immigration enforcement

in Reykjavik came under fire for dragging

energized a vocal minority of mainline

agents can follow undocumented immigrants

two young Iranian asylum seekers away

Protestant and Catholic churches—many

wherever they go. ICE agents have arrested

from the altar at a church in Iceland.

of which have served as a weekly place of

undocumented people in hospitals, while

worship for the undocumented immigrants

dropping kids off at school and even in a

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

they end up harboring. A number of

courthouse while seeking a protective order

Sanctuary churches have been around almost

Christian

against an alleged abuser. Those places have

as long as church buildings themselves, but

Southern Baptist Convention leader Russell

no more legal protections than churches do.

their recent surge in popularity is largely

Moore, have written about the apparent

But traditionally, law enforcement officials

owing to new legislation. While Obama

hypocrisy in a religion that claims to be “pro-

have abided by a sort of unspoken code

aggressively

life” but fails to have much regard for the

about houses of worship offering asylum.

immigrants,

about

plight of immigrants. And Christians aren’t

Obama

immigration reform under his second term.

alone. A national network of sanctuary

immigrants than any of his predecessors,

That

congregations includes representation from

but ICE agents under his presidency were

leaders who tended to focus more on

instructed to avoid churches and other

supporting new immigration laws than

“sensitive locations.” Simply put, violating a

on providing sanctuary. The idea was that

DIVISIONS

sanctuary church is a bad look.

offering asylum was a Band-Aid. The real

Protestant

goal was to eradicate the need for sanctuary

collective by design, with various doctrinal

churches through immigration law reform.

splits. Many of them simply don’t believe the

deported

undocumented

Deportation efforts have kicked into a higher gear since Trump’s inauguration, but ICE agents have yet to violate this original,

deported he

optimism

was

undocumented optimistic

fueled

activism

from

That, of course, didn’t happen. Sen.

faith

leaders,

most

notably

Jewish, Buddhist and Baha’i communities.

churches

are

loose-knit

Bible’s language about immigrants applies to today. Prominent Christian minister Franklin Graham has flat-out said that immigration “is not a Bible issue.” Catholic churches in America tend to be more unified, since Pope Francis has made his feelings about immigrants pretty

Just 32 percent of white evangelicals say immigrants strengthen the U.S. SEPT-OCT

070

clear (as you might expect, he likes them). The PRRI study found that 44 percent of white Catholics and 57 percent of nonwhite Catholics believe that immigrants strengthen

American

society,

compared

to just 32 percent of white evangelicals. But even so, it’s a divisive issue. Forty-one percent of white Catholics see immigrants as a threat to American values.

2017

“Being willing to stand for what is good and right and merciful is the call theologically.” - Pastor Randall Keeney

Other churches are more sympathetic to the plight of immigrants, but feel that their hands are legally tied. The Immigration and Nationality Act says anyone who knowingly harbors an undocumented immigrant “in any place, including any building” can be sent to jail for years. This has rarely been enforced, but it does happen. In the 1980s, Pastor John Fife of Arizona and a collective of other ministers were arrested on suspicion of harboring undocumented immigrants. Such cases are few and far between, but many faith leaders aren’t eager to play the odds. The Trump administration has signaled a willingness to pull funds from sanctuary cities, so it’s not wholly inconceivable that its patience could run out with sanctuary churches as well. If that happened, pastors accused of harboring undocumented immigrants would have very little legal ground to stand on. But some sanctuary churches are finding unlikely allies in local law enforcement. In Denver, Arnie Carter assisted the First

There have, however, been a few high-

especially when there are an estimated 11

Unitarian Church in providing asylum for

profile cases. A 59-year-old undocumented

million undocumented immigrants living

two undocumented immigrants, and he

woman who goes by Emma found refuge at

in America. “The harvest is plenty, but the

says local police have been surprisingly

a Quaker Meeting House in Albuquerque.

workers are few,” as a certain prominent

supportive, especially after one of the people

Jeanette Vizguerra and her three children

religious leader famously said.

taking sanctuary in the church started

took shelter in a Unitarian Church in Denver.

receiving threats online.

There are stories of immigrants who’ve

movement is a movement, and, according to

moved into church buildings in Chicago,

Keeney, it has its roots in Scripture.

In fact, the local police chief stopped by to offer his protection. “He reassured her that

Phoenix and Philadelphia, too.

Nevertheless,

the

sanctuary

church

“Paul ended up being martyred because

they would do anything they could to make

The number of churches, synagogues and

he challenged political authority,” he says.

sure she stayed safe and that they would

other houses of worship offering sanctuary

“Jesus was martyred because He challenged

be investigating the threats,” Carter says.

has only trended upwards since the 1980s,

political authority. Martin Luther King

“The local officials have always been very

and there are no signs of slowing. In fact, it’s

Jr. was martyred because he challenged

supportive and helpful. The local officials

inspired secular institutions to offer asylum

political authority, Gandhi violated it. Our

have been like, ‘This is a federal issue and

as well. In addition to cities, college students

own country was established by a revolt

we’re just gonna make sure everyone is safe,

have begun calling for their campuses

against political authority. Being willing

that’s our job.’”

to serve as sanctuaries. The University

to stand for what is good and right and

merciful is the call theologically.”

Pennsylvania

says

won’t

THE HARVEST IS PLENTY

information about undocumented students

Most sanctuary churches aren’t looking to

with immigration officials unless required

attract attention to the people who might be

by warrant.

living in their walls, so no one knows exactly

Regardless, the fact remains that there

how many undocumented people are living

are only 800 churches offering sanctuary in

in sanctuary churches.

the U.S., which is not a lot in the big picture,

071

T YLER HUCK A BEE is a writer living in Nashville, Tennessee. Follow him @tylerhuckabee on Twitter.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

FAT H ER JOH N M IST Y The acclaimed—and often misunderstood—musician talks about his latest album, Pure Comedy.

2017

“If Pure Comedy was available in Christian

are stuffed full of everything from eastern

CAMERON STRANG

bookstores, Christians would f***ing love

spirituality to the Bible. Even his name trips

me.”

people up.

AND JESSE CAREY

When Josh Tillman says this of his latest

Tillman released a number of solo albums

Father John Misty album, he’s being 100 per-

as J. Tillman over the first 10 years of his

cent sincere. Granted, it’s a surprising take,

career. But since 2012, he has performed as

P H OTO S BY

given the album’s irreverent, cheeky and

Father John Misty, a name he calls “categor-

EMMA ELIZABETH

sometimes profane approach to asking hard

ically silly ... it makes me laugh every time I

TILLMAN

questions about religion and faith. But Till-

say it.”

man is pretty sure Pure Comedy—the 13-song

Comedy is a big part of Father John Misty’s

folk opus beloved by critics and his fiercely

whole thing. His song lyrics are frequently

devoted fans alike—would find a real audi-

funny; so funny you can miss their profundi-

ence among the LifeWay set, if they ever gave

ty. It’s a little contradiction in a persona full

it a chance.

of them.

“When I was making it and people were

His music can be melancholy, but his live

asking me what the deal was with my new

shows are full-out rock concerts. He’s known

album, I was like, ‘I think I made a gospel re-

for making intellectual art, but regularly

cord,” he says. “I thought, I’m not sure any-

makes the rounds on social media sarcasti-

one but Christians will be able to appreciate

cally trolling Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and

it ... They’d go, ‘Thank God someone is asking

Ryan Adams.

these questions. Thank God someone is taking all of this to task.’ You know?”

If every single tic in Tillman’s personality doesn’t add up, well, it’s only because he’s not a man overly concerned with anything as

SIMPLE MISUNDERSTANDINGS

asinine or soul-sucking as a coherent brand

Tillman’s home is at the end of a winding,

message. In real life, he’s thoughtful and an-

tree-lined street in the Hollywood Hills. Look-

imated. He’s a bookworm. He’s sly, too. You

ing around the quiet bungalow, it’s easy to see

regularly get the sense he’s in on a joke that

why he might be misunderstood by so many

only he knows.

people. A record collection dominates the liv-

He has a lot to say, but as with a lot of mu-

ing room, but he doesn’t really listen to mu-

sicians who attempt to tackle anything more

sic. The art is eclectic and ironic. Bookcases

complex than a broken heart, people misin-

073

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

terpret his message, or at least, his

am a Christian, in that you cannot really get

thing that I was sort of, in small ways, being

intent.

it out of your system,” he says. “It becomes

groomed for.”

Those trying to nail down Pure

your worldview ... I had this realization that

He delivered his first sermon at the age

Comedy are bound to get frustrated,

even if you become a fanatical anti-Christian,

of 6. All through high school, he remained

because Tillman is not interested

you’re still living in the orbit of these princi-

involved in ministry, even though the older

in things that can be easily nailed

ples. It’s still a part of you.”

he got, the more church culture—particular-

down. He likes to ask questions with

So Tillman still feels of the Christian cul-

no easy answers. But those ques-

ture, even if he’s not exactly in it. But for as

tions, he insists, “still have value.”

much as he’s deeply familiar with the con-

“On one hand, a lot of it just has to do with

tours of Christianity as it’s most commonly

a culture of the individual, with like the cult

SUCH AN INTIMATE THING

expressed in the United States, he’s even

of the self, so these people who kind of refuse

“Being someone who cannot get

more deeply troubled by it.

to integrate become leaders of this thing,” he

Christianity out of my system—I no

him the wrong way.

says, remembering seeing other young Chris-

longer even really want to—it’s an

COMPLICATED ROOTS

tians who were developing into ministry per-

intimate thing to question God,” Till-

“I’ll do these little press videos where they’re

sonalities. “I always found that very discon-

man says.

like, ‘So tell us about your first concert,’” Till-

certing, and I saw it when I went to Christian

There’s a song on Pure Comedy

man says recounting the rounds of interviews

college. I saw it in full force. These kids who

called “When the God of Love Re-

for outlets like Rolling Stone, The New York

were on their way to becoming pastors and

turns There’ll Be Hell To Pay.” In the

Times Magazine and MTV he’s done following

stuff. I found them very disturbing socially.”

song, Jesus returns to earth, where

an album release. “And I’m like, ‘I guess that

To those raised in the Church, this may

he’s confronted by an angry, con-

would have been DC Talk. You want to hear

sound familiar. It’s true—a lot of the people

fused Josh Tillman looking at the

about DC Talk?”

who get groomed for church leadership are

state of things, singing, Jesus, you

If this bit of Tillman’s backstory is not wide-

the same ones who start feeling a little un-

didn’t leave a whole lot for me / If this

ly known, it’s only because he hasn’t always

settled about the whole affair. There can, at

isn’t hell already, then tell me what

found it easy to talk about his upbringing in

times, be a sense that you’re being drafted

the hell is?

the Church or the years he spent immersed in

into a sport you’re not sure you want to play.

It’s as good a picture as any of the sorts of questions Tillman asks.

Christian sub-culture.

Sometimes, that can lead to an explosive

“I had this whole music career—or some-

split with the faith, in which you leave your

“It’s like, ‘Yeah, OK, if when Christ

thing resembling a career—in my 20s, and I

religious tradition in a blaze of glory. That’s

comes back, you guys all want to be

did interviews,” he says, referencing his days

not Tillman’s story though. His is something

doing the same thing, I have some

as a solo artist and the drummer for the in-

more gradual and complex.

questions,’” he explains. “This is in-

die-folk band Fleet Foxes. “I didn’t go any-

After attending Christian university Nyack

timate. If this is truly my maker, and

where near Christianity, let alone referencing

College for a year, grappling with his faith

I have an audience with this guy in

it so directly in my music.”

and flirting with atheism, he moved to Seat-

the way that Christianity claims I do,

“I was terrified that someone was going to

tle to attempt to get a music career going. It

am I limited to a certain conversa-

find out that I was a Christian,” he continues.

was there that he ended up moving into the

tion? Are there talking points I have

“That I had grown up that way, that it was

basement of famed Christian music producer

to run through or can I have an in-

part of my life.”

and Poor Old Lu band member Aaron Sprin-

timate conversation with my God?”

SEPT-OCT

ly the attitude of some leaders—began to rub

He grew up in a devout family that attend-

kle, a man whose name would eventually

It’s a fair question, and the notion

ed church faithfully. Early on, he says his

become nearly synonymous with the Chris-

of having an intimate conversation

church leaders pegged him for a bit of a trou-

tian indie-rock label Tooth and Nail Records.

with God is a recurring theme on

blemaker, and that wasn’t necessarily seen as

Tillman even wrote band bios for the label to

Pure Comedy. But when you’re an

a bad thing.

make a little extra cash.

acclaimed artist who’s headlined in-

“Rebels and freethinkers and the guys who

He still has a fondness for the Christian

ternational tours, intimate conversa-

were in trouble and stuff, they’re the ones

bands he grew up listening to (Starflyer 59

tions have a way of becoming public.

who go on to be pastors,” he explains. “That’s

is a personal favorite of his). “I was lucky to

“For all intents and purposes, I

the mold for the future pastor and some-

grow up in the kind of golden age of Christian

074

2017

075

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

rock,” he says. “It was amazing.”

have credits on that first Demon Hunter record … I love

Tillman recounts a story of being 20 years old and be-

SEPT-OCT

that that is one of my main credits.”

friending Jesse Sprinkle—Aaron’s brother—a musician

But while the Christian hardcore scene was fun, Till-

who was, at the time, playing drums for the Christian

man was struggling with other, more substantive parts of

hardcore outfit Demon Hunter. Sprinkle got sick before

the culture he’d been raised in. After striking out to Seattle

the band’s first session, and they needed someone to take

to pursue music, he wrestled not only with questions, but

his place. Tillman ended up filling in. “I’m sitting there,

with how Christians tended to respond to his questions.

and they’re like ‘Do you want to play drums on this?’” he

“The sick thing—and I use that word lightly—is that

remembers. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, of course!’ So now I

you grow up, and they tell you what to believe, and then,

076

2017

communicating a lot more directly. My music couldn’t just be this aesthetic exercise.”

I made a decision five years ago that I wanted my music to be useful and I wanted to be in service to people.

And in that moment, Father John Misty was born. It’s worth clearing some things up about the name Father John Misty. Yes, it represents a transition in Tillman’s songwriting philosophy, but it’s not a different persona. Remember, Tillman chose the name mostly because he thought it was funny. “I never liked the name Joshua, and I got tired of ‘J.’ It doesn’t matter what you call yourself,” he explains. “It was seriously born in a moment of, ‘You could call yourself Father John Misty,’ truly the silliest thing I could think of in a moment.” But the adoption of the name represented a significant moment. It was a moment in which Tillman decided Father John Misty would help other people’s eyes be opened to the hypocrisies of the world and the truth be-

they have now integrated that mo-

to not be the all-knowing founts of wisdom

hind the questions that had plagued him all

ment into the program where they

you’d been led to believe.

his life.

go, ‘Hey, by the way, your faith needs to be your own, and it can’t just be

“It’s a head f***,” says Tillman, finally. “It really is.”

The result was Fear Fun. Unlike his previous, J. Tillman-era albums, the debut Father

this thing that you’ve been told to

John Misty release was a funny, high-energy

believe your whole life,’” he says,

FATHER JOHN MISTY IS BORN

riot that tackled big ideas between punch-

sounding genuinely frustrated.

2012 changed everything for Tillman.

lines. It was an album about spiritual wander-

“Then you just go, ‘What the f***?

He had spent years building a solo career

ing, looking for truth while driving down the

You just pulled out the rug from un-

as J. Tillman before joining Fleet Foxes in

coast in a van filled with books and shrooms.

der me! I’ve done everything you

2008. When that union ended in a public and

The record was a critical favorite and

told me to do. I have not questioned

contentious manner, it could have been the

commercial success, and was followed up by

this. I have believed it because it is

end of Tillman’s music career.

2015’s I Love You, Honeybear, a meditation

the immutable cosmic truth of the

But in 2012, he had a transformative ex-

on Tillman’s real life as a new husband, dis-

universe apparently, because I have

perience in his professional—and spiritu-

covering the trappings, burdens and benefits

never been around anyone who did

al—journey. “I took psychedelics for the first

of love and domesticated modern life. It’s a

not claim that this was the truth. And

time,” he says. “That was a defining moment

darker album than Fear Fun, taking aim at the

now you’re telling me that all this

for me. I think in a lot of ways it was far

American Dream with lines like, Oh, they gave

time I’ve just been paying lip service

more memorable than receiving Christ in my

me a useless education / And a subprime loan /

to this thing, and now I need to find

heart.”

On a craftsman home / Keep my prescriptions

my own reason for …” he pauses. And in that pause is the frustration of anyone who’s ever been

The moment opened Tillman’s thinking, to put it mildly, and gave rise to an epiphany: He would make music with a mission.

filled … Save me, President Jesus. Back when Tillman was just releasing solo albums as J. Tillman, he would send his par-

disappointed when their spiritual

“I made a decision five years ago that I

ents copies of each album he recorded. He

leaders—who once seemed so easy

wanted my music to be useful, and I wanted

went back to his family’s home one holiday

and confident in their theological

to be in service to people,” he explains. “And

and noticed his parent’s collection of CDs. He

intellect—slowly reveal themselves

in order to do that, I was going to have to start

shuffled through them, finding his own still

077

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

wrapped in cellophane, “untouched.”

seems to make them feel alive is the struggle to

“Those kind of fundamental questions are

“How can you not even be curious?”

survive / But the only thing that they request is

enough for a lifetime, I think,” he says. “Show

he says. “For a musician, that’s a pretty

something to numb the pain with / Until there’s

me a more sophisticated question. And again

serious betrayal.”

nothing human left / Just random matter sus-

that is the pure comedy of the album. The

pended in the dark / I hate to say it, but each

answers haven’t become more sophisticated.

other’s all we got.

That’s an illusion. The questions are the same

He says his parents were disinterested in his art because they see it as “secular or kind of antagonistic to

That may seem like a gloomy proclamation

their worldview.” And his parents ar-

that veers into humanism if not outright ni-

en’t alone in that assessment of Till-

hilism, but, as Tillman explains it, “each oth-

STILL ASKING

man’s music, even as he evolved into

er’s all we got” is actually about finding God,

After spending the afternoon at his home,

Father John Misty, and particularly

not abandoning Him: “I think what Christ

Tillman heads to the studio where he’s al-

when it comes to his latest album.

was really about was that—we experience

ready wrapping up Pure Comedy’s follow-up,

Him through other people.”

due out next year. He says he views the first

“I would give anything for people to

as they’ve always been.”

see Pure Comedy the way that I intend-

“When I say [in the song], ‘They worship

three Father John Misty albums as a sort of

ed or hoped people to see it,” he says.

themselves and yet they’re totally obsessed’

informal trilogy, but there’s likely at least one

“It’s incredibly difficult.”

It’s like what is the point of Christ? What is

theme that will carry through to the next one:

Pure Comedy is a sprawling, con-

the point of Jesus?” he says. “What is the point

lyrics that ask questions.

ceptual epic that starts at the birth of

of all of this window dressing if you just wor-

mankind and continues through man-

ship yourself?”

Though he’s evolved in his own faith journey, Tillman says he still isn’t exactly sure

kind’s self-destruction at the hands of

“It becomes this empty f***ing exercise

what it means to truly experience Jesus. But

the technology, organized religion and

if you live in worship of yourselves,” he ex-

he really wants to know. He grew up in the

the entertainment industrial complex.

plains. “That’s the comedy of it.

Church, but that supernatural feeling that

With something that unwieldy, it’s no

“When I look at the person of Jesus, this

takes Christianity from an intellectual pur-

wonder that not everyone’s on the

guy who walked around speaking almost

suit, a moral challenge and a social force for

same page about it.

exclusively in ironies, the best parts of what

change into a life-altering, real experience,

Take the last lines of the title track.

Jesus had to say were ironic,” he says. “That

remains elusive.

After unpacking all of the evils hu-

the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

He recalls a conversation he once had with

mans have unleashed upon itself in

When I am writing a song like ‘Pure Comedy,’

his father—a man who was saved as a mid-

the search for meaning and securi-

I’m thinking about the fact you have this guy

dle-schooler and has been a devout Christian

ty, Tillman sings, The only thing that

that was despised by the religious order of his

ever since. He started asking his dad about

day and who was there to take the world …

people of other religions who are just as

Everybody is going, ‘These institutions don’t

self-assured in their beliefs as any faithful

work.’ It’s got to be personal.”

Christian. “I’m just like, so everybody got it

Pure Comedy was written before the 2016

Tillman asked about biblical genealogies

ically timely. It takes on broken political in-

that don’t line up with other historical re-

stitutions, especially in light of the teachings

cords, and parts within the biblical narrative

of Christ. “Running countries was not part of

that seem to contradict each other, no matter

the deal,” he says of Christianity. “And there

how nimble your hermeneutical acrobatics.

is so much more power in absolving oneself of power. That is the Gospel. That is the Be-

P URE C OMEDY Father John Misty’s latest album is being called a masterpiece by some critics.

SEPT-OCT

wrong before you?”

election, but even so, the record feels polit-

His father’s response was, in essence, to ask, “So what?”

atitudes. Like, ‘Powerful are the people who

“I like that my dad’s answer is that he

have no power.’ If you absolve yourself of

doesn’t know and that he doesn’t care,”

that, then that, to me, is faith.”

Tillman says. “I like that. Because that I can

And by that reckoning, he says, Pure Comedy may have just as many “Christian” merits as a “Christian” album.

078

understand. Because that’s actually the only reasonable response.” Rather than relying on apologetics or Ray

2017

079

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Comfort-style logic-based evangelism, the faith of Till-

not looking for the wisdom of man. Through his art—and

man’s father is based on an encounter he had with Jesus.

even drugs—he’s just looking for an encounter, and will

“When you look at all of it, the only response that I re-

keep questioning God until he gets one that adds up to the

spect is that Christ did something in my life and it means

SEPT-OCT

experience he was promised when he was younger.

something to me,” he says. “That’s the only answer that I

At the end of the day, Tillman doesn’t have an issue

can really respect. Everything else to me is f***ing Kirk

with Christianity, or even an issue with God. He still hasn’t

Cameron bulls***. It’s all just the wisdom of man, and

experienced the encounter others have or that he’s look-

man’s wisdom is bulls***.”

ing for, but he does believe it’s real.

Maybe that’s why Tillman can’t stop asking questions.

“Christ just never did anything in my life,” he says. “It

He’s not exactly looking for answers, and he’s certainly

just didn’t work that way. I only mean that in the very re-

080

2017

Are there talking points I have to run through, or can I have an intimate conversation with my God?

“Isn’t that part of the deal?” he says. “Isn’t that part of humility? Isn’t part of Christianity being able to ask, ‘How could I possibly expect the world to understand me?’ That’s the humming dynamo at the center of Christianity to me.” “But now we’re living in this world where in order for this stuff to be true it all has to be factual. You have to be able to look at the water levels of the Grand Canyon and chart

medial sense. I said the words and I didn’t feel anything.”

out where the flood of Gilgamesh

His issue—the reason he is now making music—is that

happened and all this stuff. And

he wants to show others the dangers of getting it wrong.

I’m thinking, ‘OK, where’s the faith?

He’s holding true to the idea he had back in 2012 when

What role does faith have in this?”

he tried mushrooms and decided to serve and be useful. Tillman tells the story of working at a friend’s family

ALL MUSIC

business installing acoustic paneling. His friend’s father

“I think you’re going to be hard

ran the business and was a devout Jehovah’s Witness, but

pressed to find any musician who

the son was being exiled from the religion. They worked

doesn’t have some vested interest

together, but that was the extent of their relationship.

in spirituality and matters of the

“He worked with his dad, day in and day out,” he re-

heart,” Tillman says. “I just see those

counts. “They never saw each other outside of work. They

as being like part and parcel with

barely spoke at work … He never went home. They never

Christ or whatever. It is all about sin

spoke. That, to me, is a derangement of the natural order

and redemption. All music.”

of things.”

And so this is what it comes down

Anyone who’s spent any amount of time around a com-

to for Tillman. He’s asking big ques-

munity of any religious persuasion has probably heard a

tions, but he’s not trying to be antag-

similar story, or even been part of that story themselves.

onistic. He’s not exactly in the Chris-

It’s what happens when religion gets twisted.

tian culture, but he is of it, and he

It’s something Tillman has seen firsthand and, accord-

wants to broaden its scope—to force

ing to him, it’s the sort of religion that needs to be ques-

it to face the sort of issues he never

tioned. Maybe Tillman, by standing just outside of the

felt like he got permission to grap-

thing, is in a better place to question it than most.

ple with when he was younger. He’s

“I think the reason a lot of musicians have trouble stay-

looking to widen the tent.

ing with the Church is because music is all about harmo-

“If the Church says, ‘OK, maybe

ny, literally and figuratively” he says. “It’s about looking

these things that are happening

for these harmonic strains that run through the human

out in the broader world—maybe

experience and these points where everything converges.

Christ is in that too,’ then maybe the

And I think Christianity, at least for me, demanded that I

world’s market can be our market,”

look at what I saw as being inconsistencies and just live

Tillman says.

with them. But I love duality. Duality is at the heart of mu-

And if Tillman can get the Church

sic. It’s at the heart of my life.”

interested in the sorts of questions he

And if dualism may seem to lead to some intellectual

thinks it should be asking then, who

contradiction, Tillman says, well, what is faith if not learn-

knows, maybe they’ll start selling his

ing to embrace paradox?

album in Christian bookstores.

081

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

The Waiting Game What happens when God’s timing doesn’t make sense? BY AN N SWI N DELL

aylor is a 33-year-old work-

GOD ISN’T WITHHOLDING FROM YOU

patient with you, not wanting anyone to per-

ing on her master’s in nutri-

When we’ve been waiting for something for

ish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2

tion. She’s fielding several

a while, it can start to feel like God is with-

Peter 3:8-9).

promising job opportunities,

holding things from us, especially if everyone

While it doesn’t always feel like it, God’s

but she’s starting to get anx-

around us is graduating, getting married, ac-

timing truly is better than ours. Even when

ious about marriage. It’s been several years

ing interviews and having kids. But the truth

things feel slow.

since her last serious relationship, and most

is that “In all things God works for the good

It can be easy to think God’s timing is awful

of her close friends have been married for a

of those who love Him, who have been called

when we look around and see how other peo-

few years now. She’s excited about the future,

according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

ple are living. We compare ourselves to them

but she’s also getting a little antsy. Donte is 26 years old and has been wait-

Your life is on a trajectory toward what is

and hate that we’re still waiting for what they

good because God is working on your behalf.

already have. But God doesn’t operate by earthly ways of doing things; in the Bible, He

ing tables for three years now. He doesn’t hate his job, but he’s interested in something

GOD KNOWS HOW IT’S GOING TO END

declares that “as the heavens are higher than

more. Nevertheless, his applications to other

One of the hardest things about waiting for

the earth, so are my ways higher than your

jobs just go unanswered. He’s ready to move

the big things in our lives—and even for the

ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”

on and take his career seriously, but the

small things—is the wait can feel indefinite.

(Isaiah 55:9). God doesn’t do things the way

We don’t know if we’ll ever be healed. We

we do them. The Lord is working from a mas-

Alexa and Dan have been married for three

don’t know if we’ll ever get married. And we

ter plan so grand we can’t even comprehend

years, and they’re thinking about starting a

don’t know because we can’t know. It’s im-

it, and we can trust that our waiting is for a

family. Well, Dan is. He’s ready to be a dad.

possible for us to look into the future and see

good purpose, even if we can’t see it yet.

Alexa isn’t so sure—she just finished school

what’s going to happen down the road. But

and is ready to finally enjoy the extra free

the good news is God knows what’s coming.

doors just don’t seem to be opening for him.

GOD LOVES YOU

time. But Dan thinks now is the perfect

The reason we can trust in a God who

time to have kids, since their schedules

doesn’t do things our way and has a

have never been freer. Your story might not look quite like this, but it’s a safe bet you’ve felt a similar tension—the sense of some sort of disconnect between where you were

While it doesn’t always feel like it, God’s timing is truly better than ours.

timeline markedly different from ours is because of His unfathomable love for us. It was that love that drove Jesus to willingly suffer and lay down His life on the cross so we could know Him and experience eternal life in Him (John 10:7-18).

and where you wanted to be.

He is giving you all you need in Christ,

We believe that God is all-powerful and that He is loving. But what do we do when

He says, “I make known the end from the

and everything He does in your life—even

God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we

beginning, from ancient times, what is still to

everything He doesn’t do—is based on His

wish He would—even though we know He

come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will

deep and unshakable love for you. That love

could? How do we wait on His answer and

do all that I please’” (Isaiah 46:10). God knows

is guiding your life, and when God’s timing

His timing without becoming bitter? When

exactly what is ahead for you, and His pur-

doesn’t seem to make sense, you can trust

we lose the person closest to us or when our

poses for your life can’t be shaken.

that His love for you always does.

bodies break on us or when our minds betray

So when you’re filled with anxiety about

Ultimately, the truth is that as Christians,

us—when life falls apart—how do we contin-

what you can’t control in the future, you can

we are a waiting people. On the daily scale of

ue to trust God, even when His timing seems

trust that God is in control, and His desires

our lives, we’re waiting for God to answer our

to be way off?

for your life will come to pass.

prayers. And ultimately, we’re waiting for Christ to return and set all things right and

There’s no easy answer, but when we look to the Bible, what we see is that it’s full of men

GOD’S TIMING IS DIFFERENT FROM OURS

make all things new (Revelation 21:5). One

and women who had to wait on God, many

God is never late. We might feel like He’s tak-

day He will, and all of our waiting will finally

for a long time (Abraham, Joseph, David and

ing forever to fulfill a promise or answer a

come to an end. Until that day, we can cling

Hannah, just to name a few). God’s timing

prayer, but God is always right on time. The

to the truth that God’s timing is the best thing

probably felt odd and unclear to them too,

difference is that it’s His timing, not ours.

for us, because He loves us and is working out

but they show us that waiting is par for the course for people of faith.

That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t under-

His good purposes in our lives.

stand our struggle with waiting or how diffi-

So, if you’re waiting for God to answer a

cult our lives feel in the interim between our

prayer in your life in some way—if you’re

longings and their fulfillment. He does under-

waiting for health or wholeness or a relation-

stand, and He is compassionate and loving to-

ship or a child or a job—here are four rea-

ward us. But His timing is often unlike ours:

sons to keep trusting Him, even if His timing

“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise,

doesn’t seem to make any sense.

as some understand slowness. Instead He is

083

A NN SWINDELL is a writer and teacher of writing at writingwithgrace. com. She’s on Twitter at @annswindell.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

ANDY MINEO WILL NOT BE STOPPED ANDY MINEO’S AT THE GYM, sound-

He’s wrestled depression, anxiety and self-doubt, but the NYC rapper is ready for the next chapter.

ing ever so slightly winded when I deliver the bad news: Prodigy, onehalf of legendary New York hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, has passed away. “Noooo,” Mineo says. “Geez! That’s ... iconic.” It’s an exquisite summer day in New York, the city Mineo’s called home for years. He’s been buried in work, putting the finishing touches on his mixtape Magic & Bird, a collaboration with fellow rapper Wordsplayed. He hasn’t checked Twitter, which is at present flooded with #RIP tweets testifying to Prodigy’s legacy. Mineo takes a quick break

BY TAY LO R J A C K S O N

SEPT-OCT

2017

M AGIC & BIRD The mixtape inspired by a legendary rivalry includes tracks called “Dunk Contest” and, yes, “Lay Up.”

from our own conversation to add his voice

hands. So I’m sitting at home on Instagram,

a group of mentors, Mineo started to find the

to their throngs.

and I’m watching guys who I saw come up

stability he’d been missing. But the creative

“DANG. RIP @PRODIGYMOBBDEEP,” he

after me end up surpassing me, blowing up,

tic was still sluggish, and that’s when his pro-

tweets to his 250,000 followers, tacking on a

becoming these icons in music. And a lot of

ducers came in with an idea: Stop trying so

prayer hands emoji.

that comparing started to happen.”

hard. Forget the pressure. Get a few friends

“If you are a fan of hip-hop, or hip-hop

Mineo’s talking about his recent bout with

culture shaped you, you feel like a part of the

anxiety and depression, a brand-new strug-

The result is Magic & Bird, a breezy, fun-

culture died,” Mineo says. “The records like

gle in the rapper’s life that stemmed from a

ny collaboration that showcases just how

that, that shaped a big piece of hip-hop, when

series of circumstances and ultimately led to

good Mineo can be when he’s not trying. To

they’re gone, you mourn because of the love

an emotional and creative funk. He started to

use his own words, the album is essentially

for the culture.”

feel like a failure and wasn’t proud of the mu-

just “making some trash turn-up music that

sic he was creating.

makes you wanna just punch someone in the

And if anyone has a love for hip-hop cul-

together and just release something fun.

ture, it’s Andy Mineo. Ever since a chance

“I had a moment where I snapped,” he

meeting with former Reach Records produc-

says. “It was right before New Year’s of 2016.

That’s a testament to Mineo’s ongoing be-

er Alex Medina while he was attending the

I felt like I was trapped inside of my head. I

lief that you can’t try to make something clas-

City College of New York, Mineo has been se-

felt like I was going crazy, and my heart was

sic. You just have to make it.

rious about blending his talent for rap with

pumping through my chest.”

his faith.

throat. It’s great. It’s fun.”

Mineo can’t pinpoint exactly what led to

He signed to Christian hip-hop kingmak-

this momentary breakdown. He says some of

Mineo’s got a sticky note on his computer

er Reach Records in 2011, and eventually

it was the pressure of releasing an album that

that says, “Innovators are wrong until they’re

dropped the Never Land EP and along with it

lived up to the wild expectations of the EP. He

right.” It’s a reminder to him to keep doing

“You Can’t Stop Me”—one of the biggest hip-

said some of it was the result of the isolation

what he does best: Forge into uncharted ter-

hop songs of the year.

left behind after old friends moved on with

ritory. The journey for him has been one of

their lives.

never looking back.

“When you try to make a viral video it never works, right?” Mineo says. “I created

And then some of it was just the general

“It’s just you being authentically you where

‘You Can’t Stop Me’ without trying. There was

state of the world—the lives lost to police

you’re capturing a special moment in time,”

nothing premeditated about that record.”

brutality and what he sees as an evangelical

he explains. “It goes with the connection. It

capitulation to President Donald Trump.

resonates with people.”

And now, according to Mineo, the challenge is to stay in that improvisational energy

“We’re seeing Donald Trump and all of his

I’ve never been about just trying to do

for Magic & Bird. He isn’t interested in rep-

shenanigans leading up to the election,” Mi-

what works,” he says. “I’ve been about trying

licating the past. He wants to take risks, but

neo says. “We’re seeing the churches respond

to authentically express how I feel.”

that’s not going to be easy—and that’s some-

to him and to the murders of people. I started

Authentic expression is as vital to hip-hop

thing Mineo’s finding out the hard way.

to have almost a realization that a lot of the

as the music itself. Mineo’s aware that he’s

evangelical leaders I looked up to and found

operating in the shadows of icons like Mobb

hope in—I started realizing a lot of them just

Deep. And he’s doing everything he can to live

weren’t the people I thought they were.

up to the legacy.

“Basically what was happening was it was the cold of winter in New York,” Mineo says. “It’s

“That stuff just started to melt my faith. I

super dark and kinda gloomy and depressing

was wondering if any of my faith was real at

in New York for like three-fourths of the day.

all, and I started to let go of a lot of things that

I’ve been working on music, and it’s not just

I had learned and say, ‘Maybe I just need to

coming out as great as I wanted it to be. I had

start over entirely with what I have learned

a whole tour planned and the whole thing fell

about my faith.’ And that’s what I did.”

through for a ton of reasons outside of my

After a few days of talking to his wife and

085

TAYLOR JACKSON writes about film, faith and hip-hop from her home in Seattle.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

A History of Violence How do we reconcile the brutality of God in the Old Testament with the message of the New?

SEPT-OCT

086

2017

BY BONNIE KRISTIAN

Dawkins’ assessment is savage, but is it dishonest? The Old Testament is a

pages in, I quit. My explanations felt completely inadequate.

bloody book, mixing commands of mer-

Not only that, but I had come to un-

cy and praise for God’s love with gory

derstand the challenge is not just to try

tales of murder, rape and injustice, of-

to justify God’s violence, as difficult as

ten committed at divine command. We

that is. The challenge is that Jesus says

read of God’s people slaughtering en-

all Scripture is about Him and especial-

tire cities in the name of the Lord. We

ly about His sacrificial death on Cal-

see characters like David, the “man af-

vary. So the challenge is to show how

ter God’s own heart,” praised for merci-

every story of God slaughtering people

less military campaigns. “Happy is the

can point to the nonviolent, self-sacri-

one who seizes your infants and dashes

ficial love of God revealed on Calvary.

According to an ancient tale, there once was

them against the rocks,” the psalmist

a prophet who lived in a city under siege by

declares to his enemies.

So I had to scrap that first project and instead embark on a 10-year research-

enemy armies. This prophet was given a vi-

And then we see Jesus, God in the

sion that the siege would vanish in the night

flesh, who tells us to love our enemies.

and food would become plentiful once more,

To pray for those who hurt us. To lov-

RELEVANT: Of course, you’re not the

but a soldier who overheard the prophe-

ingly serve those who want to take ad-

first to notice this contrast. It’s a favor-

cy expressed some skepticism. The prophet

vantage of us. To refrain from violence

ite subject for critics of Christianity, and

was angry at this, and responded by saying

and instead overcome evil with good.

other Christians have also addressed

the soldier wouldn’t live to see the prophecy

Jesus says this is what makes us “chil-

the problem in the past. Why weren’t

come true.

dren of God.” Did the Old Testament

you satisfied with those approaches?

Sure enough, the next morning, the siege

ing and writing project that resulted in The Crucifixion of the Warrior God.

BOYD: It’s been argued that the Old

miss that memo?

army mysteriously vanished and in the citi-

In The Crucifixion of the Warrior

Testament—its violent portraits of God,

zens’ joyful rush to plunder all the food their

God, a new two-volume work, pastor

as well as the stuff on women, slaves

enemies had been hoarding, the doubtful sol-

and theologian Greg Boyd introduces

and its barbaric laws—has created

dier was crushed to death, just as the prophet

a fresh solution to this conundrum. A

more unbelievers than any other single

had divinely predicted.

short, accessible version of his mag-

force. I think that’s probably true. I’ve

This sounds like the work of a vengeful and

num opus, called Cross Vision, came

known many former Christians who

angry deity, a dark and ancient god who re-

out in August, and Boyd sat down with

lost their faith once they faced up to

sponds to even the pettiest of doubts with ex-

RELEVANT to discuss his proposal.

this stuff. This is one of the reasons I’m

treme prejudice. And yet, the god in this story

RELEVANT: Your central question is

is the same God Christians pray to today. You

about the contrast between Jesus and

RELEVANT: Your book lists all the

can read that whole story in 2 Kings 7.

the violence of the Old Testament. How

passages depicting divine violence in

did that become so pressing for you?

the Bible. It’s quite a wallop.

“The God of the Old Testament is argu-

passionate about this topic.

ably the most unpleasant character in all

BOYD: Well, the clearer I got on how

BOYD: It’s absolutely horrific. And

fiction,” atheist Richard Dawkins famously

central nonviolence is to the revelation

as I found out 10 years ago, it can’t be

charged. “Jealous and proud of it; a petty, un-

of God in Jesus and to His Kingdom

justified.

just, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive,

ethic, the foggier I got about what to

So, one historical response originat-

bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic,

do with Scripture’s violent portraits of

ed with a guy named Marcion, who ba-

homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal,

God. Ten years ago, I planned on taking

sically just rejected the Old Testament.

filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sado-

the summer to write a short little book

No Christian today rejects the Old Tes-

masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

that would justify God’s violence. Fifty

tament, but lots of people are rejecting

087

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

“My conviction is we need to read everything in Scripture in light of God on the cross— not alongside the cross or in competition with the cross.”

its violent parts. That doesn’t work for me, primarily because Jesus endorsed the whole Hebrew Bible as God-inspired. Plus, if you take away the violent episodes, you’ve pretty much gutted the storyline of the Bible. Unfortunately, the major turning points are violent—the Flood, the Passover, various judgments of Israel—so you’re left without a coherent narrative. This is what I’ve called the “dismissal solution.” There’s also the “synthesis solution,” which is the most common approach since the fifth

They usually

century. It says if you believe the whole Bi-

skip this part in youth group.

ble is inspired, these violent portraits of God must be taken at face value and synthesized with what Jesus reveals about God. This view typically says Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, but there’s also this other side of God that makes God capable of genocide.

they also couldn’t accept the surface

passages bear witness to the nonviolent

This view became implausible to me when

meaning of these violent portraits that

God revealed in Jesus on the cross.

I discovered the New Testament doesn’t pres-

conflict with what we learn about God

ent Jesus, especially Jesus Christ crucified, as

in Jesus. This solution unfortunately ended

BOYD: Well, it seems like an impossi-

Jesus is the revelation that culminates and

abruptly in the fourth century, mainly

ble question: How does a genocidal por-

surpasses all others. Hebrews 1:1-3 says in the

because the Church, through Emperor

trait of God—saying “kill every man,

past people got glimpses of truth and glimps-

Constantine, gained political power

woman, child, infant and animal in this

es of God’s glory and character, but now we

and therefore had to rationalize vi-

region,”—how does a portrait like that

have the Son, who is really God in person. He

olence. Now the violent portraits of

point to the non-violent, self-sacrificial

is the very radiance of God’s glory and the ex-

God that were problems for earlier

love of God revealed on the cross? I be-

act representation of what God’s like.

theologians became advantageous for

gan to understand this when I asked an

RELEVANT: So the model you’ve proposed

leaders who needed to justify their vio-

even more fundamental question: How

asks us to use the cross as the lens with which

lence. And that is the tragic role they’ve

does the cross reveal God?

we interpret these difficult passages that, at

played through much of history.

one revelation among others.

face value, seem to be very unlike Jesus.

SEPT-OCT

RELEVANT: So how does this lens

change the violent passages?

If you look at the cross from a nat-

All I’m saying is, let’s get back to

ural point of view, all you see is a

BOYD: My conviction is we need to read ev-

the approach of the Early Church. My

guilty-appearing, godforsaken crimi-

erything in Scripture in light of God on the

claim is when we look at these violent

nal. So, what is it about this particular

cross—not alongside the cross or in competi-

portraits of God through the lens of the

crucified criminal that we say is the full

tion with the cross. I’m suggesting a type of

cross—really trusting that God is the

revelation of God? It’s not what we and

“reinterpretation solution,” which was prev-

way He’s revealed on the cross—we

everyone else see on the surface that

alent in the Early Church. They didn’t feel

can see things going on that the origi-

reveals God’s character to us. It’s rath-

free to dismiss any passage of Scripture, but

nal audience couldn’t. We can see these

er what we see when we, by faith, look

088

2017

exactly what He does on Calvary. He’s stooping to bear the sin of His fallen people. RELEVANT: You mentioned the Old Tes-

tament’s violent depictions of God have historically been used to justify violence rather than for edification. So, say I’m 100 percent on board with your reinterpretation solution, and now it’s time for some devotional Bible reading. Does your proposal make these depictions useful for personal discipleship? BOYD: Yes, I think this is a way we can be

edified by the whole Bible. See, we often ignore these horrific, macabre portraits of God or try to gloss over them. We don’t officially reject the Old Testament, like Marcion, but for all intents and purposes we’re “functional Marcionites.” And it’s not hard to see why. Think about a passage like Numbers 31, where Moses says, “Go slaughter the Midianites.” When the Israelite soldiers spare the women, children and some animals, Moses is enraged and—ostensibly under the command of God—he says, “Slaughter all the boys and women who have had sex, but keep alive all the virgins for yourself,” basically to use as sex slaves. You wonder: How on earth could this possibly be the inspired Word of God, let alone inspired in a way that points to the cross? It is truly grotesque, but this is precisely how it points to the cross and becomes edifying. The very ugliness of passages like this testify to just how low God was willing to stoop through the surface of the cross and

Now, if everything in Scripture is

to remain in covenantal solidarity with His

behold something else in the depth of

supposed to point to the cross, doesn’t

people. They are testaments to the truth that

the cross. By faith we see the God of this

it make sense to read the Bible wonder-

Jesus Christ has always been willing to do

universe, out of His unfathomable love

ing where else God might have revealed

what He does in a supreme way on Calvary:

for us, stooping an infinite distance to

himself the way He did on Calvary?

Reveal God’s character by bearing the sin of

become human and become this god-

Where else did God reveal His beauty

His people, thereby taking on appearances

forsaken, guilty-appearing criminal.

by stooping to bear the ugly sin of His

that reflect that sin. It must have grieved His

It’s the unsurpassable distance God

people, taking on an ugly appearance

heart, but He was willing to do that out of

crossed, which only faith can see, that

that mirrors that sin? Where else might

self-sacrificial love.

reveals the unsurpassable perfection of

we find depictions of God that are ugly

That’s how these passages become very ed-

God’s loving character. That’s why the

on their sin-mirroring surface, requir-

ifying to me. At the end of the day, what I’m

cross is the ultimate revelation of God’s

ing us to exercise faith to look through

proposing is extremely practical. Now, I can

character. God could not go to any fur-

their ugly surface to discern the beauty

see what Martin Luther claimed to see when

ther extreme on our behalf than he

of the stooping, sin-bearing God?

he says, “Throughout Scripture, I see nothing

went on Calvary.

This is the cornerstone for how I pro-

It’s also why the cross is simultane-

pose we interpret violent portraits of

ously ugly and beautiful for the believ-

God. Their ugly surface meaning tells

er. On the surface, it’s supremely ugly

us a lot about how far God had to stoop

because it reflects the ugliness of the

to remain in covenantal solidarity with

sin of the world Christ bears. But it’s

His fallen people. And with our cross-in-

also supremely beautiful, because we

formed faith, we can look through this

see God stooping out of love to bear

sin-mirroring ugly surface, just as we

that ugliness for us.

do on Calvary, and behold God doing

089

else but Jesus Christ crucified.”

BONNIE KRISTIA N is a writer in St. Paul, MN. She is the weekend editor at The Week, a columnist at Rare and a fellow at Defense Priorities.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

R E L E VA N T SELECTS

FILM/TV MUSIC BOOKS

NEW RELEASES YOU SHOULD KNOW

Jesus Culture Their latest album is based on a single, profound idea.

“

HE IDEA BEHIND it is simple,”

Jesus Culture singer and

for us and where we’re at.” When he says “strategic,” Quilala isn’t referring

songwriter Chris Quilala says

to some sort of market research or an attempt to

of their new album, Love Has

sell more albums or concert tickets.

a Name. “It’s that Jesus is the answer to any question or situation.” In that way, the live recording is a sort of concept album. “The songs all flow and have a theme that is

Instead, this is a spiritual reminder for one of the world’s most popular worship bands. “There are so many names that can fight for our attention,” he

Recorded live, Jesus Culture’s latest captures the energy, passion and power of one of their massive worship events.

worship, if people don’t leave talking about Jesus, then we missed the mark ... For us, we really just

answer, the name above all names, the answer

want to point people to that simple truth that Jesus

to every question … For us as a church and a

is the answer.”

SEPT-OCT

[CAPITOL CMG]

says. “When we travel and we’re doing nights of

woven between,” he says. “Jesus really is the

movement, we felt that title was very strategic

LOVE HAS A NAME

The album’s message is simple, but powerful.

090

2017

TO THE BONE

HILLSONG UNITED

MARTI NOXON

WONDER

[NETFLIX]

[SPARROW RECORDS]

The film offers a heartbreaking,

The album’s title hints at an

intimate and, at times, jarring

overarching theme that the

look into the mind and life of

worship outfit has woven

someone desperately attempting

throughout. The big anthems and

to overcome an eating disorder. It’s

worshipful ballads are about

not an easy film to watch, but it is

maintaining the awe of God, no

an important one.

matter the circumstances.

OF MESS AND MOXIE JEN HATMAKER [THOMAS NELSON]

Jen Hatmaker’s latest challenges the idea that disappointment equates to failure. Sometimes, to get through the “messes” of life, we need to have

JAY-Z

some moxie.

The hip-hop godfather finally comes clean. IF THERE ARE TWO

attributes that have

COM TRUISE

defined the career

ITERATION

of hip-hop’s biggest

[GHOSTLY

name, it’s reinvention

INTERNATIONAL]

and honesty. But as

The alter ego of Seth

JAY-Z has moved on

Haley, Com Truise has

from hip-hop hustler

created an album that’s

and music industry

like listening to an ‘80s

mogul to marriage

video game based in the

and fatherhood, his

world of Stranger Things and also yacht rock.

evolution has taken on a new voice—and it may be his most powerful yet. On 4:44, he’s traded his signature swagger for contrite humility. Though laced with the expected profanity, the album has a redemptive message: It finds Hova acknowledging his failures as a husband,

THE LOST CITY OF Z

admitting his sins and,

JAMES GRAY

ultimately, looking for

4:44

redemption.

[ROC NATION RECORDS]

[AMAZON STUDIOS]

It flew under the

Along with its grown-up themes, the

radar during its

album utilizes the skills of legendary

theatrical run, but the

hip-hop producer No I.D. and samples from icons including Stevie Wonder.

story of adventure, self-discovery and challenging xenophobia is one of the year’s best.

091

02/03

ARCADE FIRE IS

RECOMMENDS

LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF LIFE.

JAPANESE BREAKFAST SOFT SOUNDS FROM ANOTHER PLANET [DEAD OCEANS]

The brainchild of Michelle Zauner, Japanese Breakfast creates atmospheric indie-pop that’s both otherworldly and totally infectious.

Arcade Fire

WONDER WOMAN PATTY JENKINS

They’ve returned to take down consumerism.

[WARNER BROS. PICTURES]

Sure, the action epic is

ON THE TITLE TRACK to the latest

Songs like “Create Comfort,” which

Arcade Fire album, frontman

warns about the “white lie of

Winn Butler paints the picture of a

American prosperity,” and the uber-

family that seemingly has it all, yet

catchy single “Signs of Life,” with its

something remains broken: This

musing about empty consumerism

happy family with everything now

(“Spend your life waiting in line”),

/ We turn the speakers up till they

offer powerful insights into finding

break / ‘Cause every time you smile

purpose in a culture obsessed with

it’s a fake! Matched with their high-

sex. However, there is hope in all of

energy, indie rock-disco fusion, the

the cautioning. At one point, Butler

message doesn’t sound as bleak as

sings to “God in Heaven” as an

tribute to ‘70s soul and

it reads, but it does sound urgent.

alternative to the madness.

disco energy.

a lot of fun, but its real power is the message of female empowerment.

EVERYTHING NOW [COLUMBIA RECORDS]

The album represents the next step in an evolution from rock ‘n roll collective to a grooving, funk-inspired

WOOLLY BEN MEZICH [ATRIA BOOKS]

SEPT-OCT

WASHED OUT

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

MISTER MELLOW

DAVID GRANN

[STONES THROW RECORDS]

[DOUBLEDAY]

Three years after releasing the

This shocking look into a series of

Not only is Woolly a fascinating look at the real-life efforts to bring back the long-extinct woolly mammoth, but

acclaimed Paracosm, producer and

murders of Osage Native Americans, the

singer Ernest Greene returns with a new,

birth of the FBI and the power of oil will

story between the two

intricately layered chillwave collection.

be adapted into a Martin Scorsese film.

scientists responsible.

092

it also tells the love

2017

Toro y Moi YOU’RE UNLIKELY TO CATCH Chaz

Bundick, also known as the artist Toro y Moi, on tour. You probably won’t read many interviews. Bundick isn’t really interested in “promoting” his music. Despite acclaim for his unique, chilledout brand of indie-rock and R&B,

BOO BOO [INDEPENDENT]

Bundick prefers to see his musical career as a sort of creative side project. Thankfully, that artistic purity has led

Electronic experimentation married with R&B soul and indie-

to a constantly evolving experiment

rock innovation in this

that just keeps getting better.

mellow new collection.

BABY DRIVER

Wright (Scott Pilgrim

KENNEDY AND KING:

The meticulously

EDGAR WRIGHT

vs. the World, Hot Fuzz)

THE PRESIDENT, THE

researched book offers

[TRISTAR PICTURES]

doing what he does

PASTOR AND THE

best: bringing action,

BATTLE OVER CIVIL

funny dialogue and

This high-speed

memorable characters

adventure finds

to stories with a lot of

filmmaker Edgar

heart.

RIGHTS STEVEN LEVINGSTON [HACHETTE BOOKS]

a powerful look at one of the most important periods of American history by focusing on two of the country’s most important figures.

SZA The singer who’s redefining what an R&B album can be.

OOD THINGS COME TO THOSE who

wait, and five years after dropping her first mixtape—SZA has finally dropped a debut album. And Ctrl

was the worth the build-up. Though her genre is technically R&B, the album is proof that SZA isn’t overly concerned with traditional labels. In the years between hitting the scene and dropping Ctrl, she collaborated with the likes of Chance the Rapper, Jill Scott, Toro y Moi and other genre benders to create a record that plays as well as a mellow afternoon soundtrack as it does in a dance club.

CTRL [RCA RECORDS]

Part indie-rock, part R&B, SZA’s long-awaited debut is still all soul with chill beats and sultry vocals.

093

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

03/03

RECOMMENDS

Sigrid IF YOU WERE TO MAKE a short list

for pop’s potential “next big thing,”

DON’T KILL

20-year-old Norwegian singer Sigrid

MY VIBE

would likely be at the top of it. Throughout her single “Plot Twist”—a Bieber-style dance anthem—she shouts, “Shots fired!” And when you hear the chorus, you know why. The giant hook and stunning vocal work is a shot across the bow, announcing the arrival

[ISLAND RECORDS]

The four-song EP runs the gamut from dance tracks to acoustic ballads.

of pop’s new, fearless voice.

THE LUCKY FEW

struggle with infertility

LOOK & SEE: A

Co-produced by Berry

HEATHER AVIS

and life-changing

PORTRAIT OF

superfan Nick Offerman,

[ZONDERVAN]

decision to adopt three

WENDELL BERRY

children—two with Down

Heather Avis’ deeply

syndrome—and how

moving book tells the

they have changed her

story of her family’s

and her husband’s lives.

LAURA DUNN & JEF SEWELL [T WO BIRDS FILM]

the documentary offers an intimate look at why the writer’s message of creation care has never been more important.

Draw Closer. Connect with God daily with the Our Daily Bread app. Learn more at odb.org/app

SEPT-OCT

094

2017

W. Kamau Bell

OU CAN GET A PRETTY GOOD SENSE of W.

Kamau Bell’s personality just by reading the subtitle of his new book: “Tales of a 6’ 4”, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender,

Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian.” Bell is funny and unafraid to be self-aware about his own style of social commentary in an era of extreme political correctness. Like his CNN show United Shades of America, the book takes a light-hearted but consistently thoughtful look at big issues like race relations in America, political polarization, fatherhood, police brutality and his own experience as a professional through his own perspective and always-funny voice. What makes Bell’s perspective so unique is that he’s THE AWKWARD

commentary, Bell’s book

both an insider and an outsider—he was tall and athletic but

THOUGHTS OF W.

is an often-hilarious look

preferred TV to sports; he grew up in the North (Boston and

KAMAU BELL W. KAMAU BELL [PUBLISHER]

at the state of American

Chicago) as well as the South (Alabama); he is black and his

culture. Even if you don’t

wife is white; the list goes on. But instead of awkwardness,

agree with all of his ideas,

his experiences have created a book with a unique outlook,

the writing is entertaining,

Part memoir, part social

unlike anything on the landscape today.

no matter the topic.

COMMUNITY. SCHOLARSHIP.

CHURCH.

APPLICATION DISCOUNT CODE: DUKERELEVANT www.divinity.duke.edu

095

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

LAST WORD A Thought Before We Go

spiritual posture is tricky. What

marching orders—generosity,

to isolate her classmates and

humility, grace, inclusion,

peddle spiritual shame?

courage—and tell them it all

I think I was afraid.

boils down to two things: loving

I was scared, first and

God and people. (He’d make this

foremost, of God. What a

part super clear by saying it to

terrifying God I crafted back

religious leaders.)

then: punitive, picky, arbitrary,

God’s Better Plan

He would give them distinct

exactly compels a 16-year-old

God’s plan was smart because

angry. Holiness culture meant

obviously this sort of life would

you were always one careless

change people so dramatically

French kiss away from divine

and permanently, they would

disapproval. I spent all my

choose to live it out in their

spiritual energy trying to stay

neighborhoods and cities and

on God’s good side, which I

countries all around the world.

managed around 23 minutes a

They wouldn’t be able to help

day. It was exhausting and scary

it. It’s too good, this good news.

and impossible. I was petrified

It would deliver them from their

When faith turns out to be

of God. I don’t remember what

prisons and fix their souls and

better than we were taught

I thought of Jesus. Jesus was the

mend the fragile places and give

Side Guy.

them a new song.

I thought God’s plan for

I was the exact ’80s Baptist youth

group girl you think I was. If you didn’t grow up in Christian subculture back then, all I can

say is that we teens graduated from True Love Waits, aggressively highlighted our Life Application Bibles to impress our seatmates at church and wore T-shirts that said: “If Bo

would be drawn to these people

involved stringent rules to help

and their Savior who gave

us be really good (secured by

them these ideas, because who

guilt—His way of keeping order),

wouldn’t be?

suffering and sacrifice to keep us

Who isn’t looking for grace

humble, clear moral boundaries

and belonging? Everyone wants

to protect our “set apartness,”

to be loved and God loves

and a life of restraint until we

everyone, so this was the very

could mercifully die and go to

definition of a win-win.

heaven. I assumed our main was to point out their errors so

because appropriating current pop culture for

the plan.

strategy, God bless and keep us.

Such a good plan, this gospel.

responsibility to other people

don’t know Jesus, then Bo don’t know Diddley,” Jesus Jukes seemed like an effective evangelical

This hurting, lonely world

human beings essentially

they could repent and get with Imagine my shock when I discovered God’s actual plan. As it turns out, it’s a good plan (good meaning actually good

As a firm member of the

this hope I professed” (while

here): Send Jesus to change all

purity and holiness culture, I

conveniently overlooking the

the rules and set people free in

harbored so much judgment

next sentence: “But do this with

every way (apparently Jesus was

toward my peers. I looked down

gentleness and respect”). I didn’t

more than just the Side Guy!).

my nose at all their shenanigans

know about that gentleness

By word and deed, example and

and was prepared at any time,

thing, but I did indeed have

instruction, Jesus would teach

like 1 Peter 3:15 instructed, as

answers. Come at me, bro.

His followers to love the outcast

if I was defending my senior thesis, to “give an answer for

SEPT-OCT

Looking back, trying to identify the motivation for my

and the poor, to embrace their communities and each other.

096

2017

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ACCURATE. READABLE. SHAREABLE. Learn more at CSBible.com SEPT-OCT

2017